Promise 13: He Will Complete His Work in You

Beloved, are you a work in progress–or is your life filled with works in progress? I hope you said yes, because all of us are works in progress. We are all constantly being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus. Additionally, most of us probably have projects we have started on, but have not finished; dreams we have launched into, but not been able to see fully fulfilled yet.

If you fit in any of those categories, then Promise 13 of our series of 60 Promises to Cling to In Time of Need is going to encourage you today.

Promise #13 comes from Philippians 1:6, which says:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).

Beloved, I love this promise because it combats hopelessness.

So often, when we human beings begin working on a project or working toward a dream, we tend to get bogged down. We get to a certain stage of the project, but then we stop. And it isn’t even necessarily our fault. Progress toward any dream could stop for any number of reasons, such as:

• Maybe you ran into a health crisis, and have had to take a break temporarily.
• Maybe things went amok in your family, and you’ve had to stop doing extra/fun things in order to keep your family together and survive.
• Maybe the money or funding ran out.
• Maybe you got discouraged with the slowness of the thing, and you stopped because you didn’t have the courage to go on facing it.
• Maybe you felt intimidated by the size of your dream, and you let intimidation psych you out and keep you from hacking away at your goal in little steps.

But, you know what? All of those hindrances and obstacles, even though they are real and they happen, are about us.

They are not about JESUS. And if we can just take our eyes off ourselves–and off of our own failures, weakness, and inabilities–and look at Jesus for a moment, then we will see:

• That Jesus is the Source of all our strength and help.
• That Jesus’ living through us is the only way we can do anything anyway; for we crucified with Christ, therefore we no longer live; it is Jesus Christ Who lives in us. (See Galatians 2:20.)
• That the life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the Son of God. (Also from Galatians 2:20.)
• That Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (See John 15:5.)

And all these things tell us that we were never supposed to be able to conjure up our own power in the flesh anyway.

True story: God is mindful that we are but dust. As He said in Psalm 103:

“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 NKJV).

He is the One Who made us, and He knows exactly how weak we are. However, He loves us with an everlasting love anyway. And He loves us enough to tell us point-blank in His Word that we can’t do a thing without Him …

… but then He reassures us that we can do ALL things through Him.

Look at John 15:5 and Philippians 4:13:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NKJV).

And also:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV).

And therefore, Philippians 1:6 combats hopelessness because it takes the pressure off YOU.

Let’s look again at this key passage, our Promise #13 to cling to in time of need:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).

Beloved, you need to know today that it is GOD Who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. That means He’ll help you want to obey Him, and He’ll help you actually obey Him. Every single day, He’ll help you “want to” … and He’ll help you do the thing.

He’ll help you do all the things, actually. 🙂

We all are works in process, and we all have works in process.

You are a literal piece of art; you are a masterpiece of God’s creation. And God sees you as the righteousness of God in Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).

But, He is still helping you become more like Jesus every day. He is daily transforming you from glory to glory, faith to faith, strength to strength, and grace to grace. And He isn’t going to stop; He Who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

Yes, Jesus is both the Author and the Finisher of your faith.

Look at what God says in Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).

As both the Author and Finisher of your faith, He is going to keep on working in the “book” that is you–the book of your life. 🙂

He is going to keep working in your heart and changing you, making you more like Himself every day. He’s just a good Shepherd like that. 🙂 And when Jesus comes back to take us to Heaven, He is going to finish you up in an instant and present you to Himself as His pure and spotless bride.

But Jesus is also going to keep on working in you to accomplish His full plans for your life.

That dream you have which is yet unfulfilled? That destiny you have in God–the calling and election He has put on your life?

Yeah: Those are going to happen if it’s a work that Jesus has begun in you … because He Who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

Yes, you’re going to have to keep seeking Him. You’re going to have to keep obeying Him, acting when He tells you to act and moving when He tells you to move. You can’t disobey God all your life and expect your destiny to happen; that wouldn’t even indicate that you’re saved, if you disobey God all your life.

But if you are saved? If you are seeking Him, His Kingdom, and His righteousness first with all your heart?

Then you get the promise of Matthew 6:33, which says:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

So, if you are meeting His conditions by seeking first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, then He will add all things to your life. That includes the fact that He will finish the works He has begun in you.

After all, the works were already finished from the foundation of the world.

We read this in Ephesians 2:10:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV).

And also in Hebrews 4:3:

“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3 NKJV).

So, beloved, if you will rest in God and seek Him first, you have His promise that He will personally complete the good work in you that He has already started.

That’s good news today, my friend. It’s good news because:

• It takes the pressure off you. You can just rest in God and obey Him when He speaks, and leave the outcome to Him.
• It means He will not abandon you, and He will not stop doing His work in your life.
• It means that GOD has not given up on your dream, calling, and election–and He is going to personally ensure that HE carries it all out for you.

Beloved, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

This is a promise you can cling to in time of need, and it’s a promise that will give you hope. Will you stop and ask the Lord today to finish all the works He is doing in your life, even when–and even though–you can’t finish them yourself?

You could pray something as simple as this:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You in Jesus’ name. Abba Father, thank You for being my God. Thank You for working in me. I praise You for Your faithfulness to Me.

Lord God, I love you so much, and I want to please You. I want to fully fulfill all Your purposes for my life. But, in my flesh I can do nothing.

So please, I ask in Jesus’ name today that You Who began every good work in me would be faithful to complete it.

Please carry on, continue, and finish all the good works and good things–even the good dreams–that You have for my life. Without You I can do nothing, but I know that I can do all things through Jesus Who strengthens me.

Please help me to obey You when You speak. Help me to rest in You, and help me to see the total fruition of every dream, call, destiny, and plan You have put on my life.

Thank You, Abba Father. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

Beloved, does this promise from Philippians 1:6 speak to your heart today? If so, leave a comment below!