“…baring 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

Have you ever started a project and never finished it?  Many years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties,  a close friend and I asked  a retired farmer if we could tear down a dilapidated old barn  that was on the back of his  property.  The barn was literally falling down.   Our goal was for each of us to  obtain enough usable lumber to build a small storage shed on the back of our property.  The farmer readily agreed.  It was a win win situation. The retired farmer  would get rid of an eyesore for free and we would get the lumber we needed to build our storage sheds.  However, as we began the project, doing it after work and on Saturdays,  we soon discovered,  after a few weeks, that the project was much bigger than we thought.  The work was taking much longer than we had anticipated.  And then  life happened!   Our jobs began requiring more of our time and our  ability to work on the project began to quickly diminish. Finally we had to abandon the project altogether because of limited time. That was a disappointing experience for us as well as the farmer.   I have always regretting not completing that project and fulfilling  our agreement.   I had to apologize to the farmer and ask his forgiveness.   The farmer gave the remainder of the usable lumber to someone else and burned the rest.

The wonderful thing about Jesus is that whenever He begins a project,  He always finishes it!   He is never caught by surprise or overwhelmed by  the size of a  project.  [After all He created the entire universe.  John 1:3].  He knows from the beginning exactly how long a project it will take and what is required to complete it.  Nothing  catches Him by surprise!  He is not limited by time and space.  He exists in eternity and always has the eternal perspective and the finished work in mind.   

Jesus has promised  that the work which  He began in us on the day of our redemption, will be fully and perfectly completed on the day when He returns and establishes His eternal Kingdom!   That is indeed good news!   

We may think that we are too old, too broken down, too unsightly, too messed up, too useless and too hopeless  for God to do anything with us.   We may wonder how God could possibly do anything with us in out condition!    But Jesus has promised to “make all things new”; including us!  (2 Cor.5:17; Rev.21:5). And because nothing is impossible with God, (Mark 10:27),  we can therefore trust Him to complete what He has begun in us!  We are not yet what  we want to be.  And we are not yet what we  are going to be.  But thank God, we are not what we were!  We are a work in progress!  And we can  rest assured that the work that He has begun in us will be completed  and it will be perfect! 

James W. Black   

“But whosoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.  This is the way we know that we are in union with him.”  (1 John 2:5 NASB). 

When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the Spirit of God came to  dwell within us.  (Rom. 8:9).  That was the moment of our New Birth. (John 3:3).  For the first time in our life  we experienced  the indwelling love of God. (Rom.5:5).  That was the beginning of a new life and an entirely new way of living.  Before we lived in the darkness.  Now we live in His Light. (Col.1:13).

But the New Birth is just the beginning of our journey.  The Lord desires for His love, which we have received, to be perfected within us!   What does that mean?  The word “perfected” here is translated  from the Greek word “telioo” which literally means:  “to complete, accomplish, consummate, finish, or fulfill.”  (Strongs #5048). 

We know that God’s love in and of itself is already perfect and complete! Nothing can be added to it and nothing can  diminish it.  But  while God’s love is perfect, we are not. Now that  we are  in union with Him, we  are on a journey of  being perfected. (Phil. 1:6). What  the Lord is wanting to do is to complete,  finish  and  fulfill the work that  His love began in us on the day we were truly  born again.  That completion will take place when we finally see him face to face in glory!  (1 Cor. 13:12).

God’s love, which is already in us, is revealed and released more and more as we learn to walk in obedience to His Word!    Each time we obey we experience His pleasure and we see the power of His Word released in our lives and circumstances.   That in turn reveals more of His love to  us.  Our understanding of His love deepens.  And our love for Him grows. 

In essence, God’s love is perfected in us as we learn to walk in obedience.  That makes it simple.  Just do what He says and His love will be perfected in us.  (John 14:15).

Rev. James W. Black 

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

James 4:17 KJV

We live in a culture that has all but lost any consciousness of sin. Because the culture has abandoned Biblical Truth, we have no standard  by which sin can be recognized or identified.  We have become much like it was during the days of The Judges (10th Century BC) when “every man did that  was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6 KJV).   But the Word of God declares  that we “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”(Rom. 3:23 KJV).

But what is sin?  How do we define it?  We normally think of sin as doing certain things that are bad.  And  while such  things are certainly sinful, that still does not describe what it is.  In reality sin  is more than our outward actions. (Matthew 5: 27-28).

Major Ian Thomas in his classic book, The Indwelling Life of Christ, defines sin very clearly.  He says, “Sin is anything that falls short of God’s glory, so that God will evaluate sin as any behavior that falls short of what He does, what He says, and what He is.  Sin therefore, is exposed simply by relating our behavior to God’s behavior.  God is perfect and by that perfection you and I recognize sin, because sin is anything that falls short of His perfection.  God Himself is therefore the only standard by which sin is recognizable.” (Page 49). 

Sin, therefore, can only be recognized in the light of God Himself!  In the light of God’s perfect holiness,  we become keenly aware of our imperfection. (Isaiah 6: 1-5).  And we see that anything that is not perfect is sin!  Such a realization means that all of us are in trouble!  We all fall short of God’s Holy perfection!  Such a  revelation of His holiness and perfection, causes us to want to try to hide from His Presence (Gen. 3:8). 

But the Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus has paid for all our sin in full!  (Col. 2: 12-15).  And He has give,  to all who will receive it, His very own righteousness and perfection! (2 Cor.5:21).  Therefore because of His finished work on the cross , He now welcomes all who have received His very own righteousness into His Presence!  And we are completely accepted by Him!  Oh, what a Savior we have in Jesus! 

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness…”

Isaiah 61:10 KJV

Throughout the year clothing manufacturers send out catalogues and other forms of advertising informing us of the latest fashions.  People eagerly watch the Hollywood elite at their award ceremonies to see what styles their favorite movie stars are wearing.  But did you know that the Holy One is also concerned about fashion? 

His greatest desire is that we might be “clothed” with the garments of salvation and to wear “the robe of righteousness.”  Of all the things we might wear, those are the most important. 

We are also instructed in the Word of God (Colossians 3: 1-17) that as followers of Christ we are to “put off” some things and to “put on” some things.  In Col. 3:8-9 we are instructed to “put off” anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy talk and lying.  In Col. 3: 12-14 we are instructed to “put on” tender mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, patience, forgiveness and love.  Being followers of Christ, therefore,  requires us to change what we wear.  And the amazing thing  is that Christ has already provided us with everything that we need (2 Peter 1:3). 

The good news is that unlike the world’s fashion, the believer’s fashion has already been paid for in Christ (Col. 3:10-11).  The fashion that Christ provides for us is always free.  It always looks good on us.  It is always a perfect fit.  It never wears out.  And it never goes out of style!  And when unbelievers actually get a good look at it, it makes them envious! 

So, as followers of Christ, let us be sure that we are wearing the right wardrobe because someone is always looking at what we wear!  And let us be so submitted to Christ,  that our garments are always a reflection of Him! 

By Rev. James Black