God Will Finish What He Started

By Adrian Rogers
Love Worth Finding

When you were first saved, God began a new work in you; but you were certainly not a finished product. You had a lot of growing to do. God started something in you, and He is the one that will complete it. The Bible says in Philippians 1:6, “… He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it …” He wants to build character into your life, and according to Romans 5:3-5, there are four ways He does this: “… we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Pressure

I’m sorry to begin this way, but verse three says the process begins with tribulations. The word tribulation literally means “pressure.” In that day, it was the word used to describe the crushing of grapes or olives. In order to produce wine or oil, the grapes or the olives had to go through tribulation.

God wants to bring out the wine of joy and the oil of gladness in your life, but the only way He will get it out of you is to press it out. Men throw broken things away, but God never uses anything until He first breaks it. Are bad things happening to you right now? Are you feeling pressure? Don’t think of it as an obstacle; but rather see it is an opportunity. They are things God has engineered to build character into your life.

You may say, “If that’s what it means to be a Christian, then I don’t want any part of it.” But understand, you’re going to have tribulation whether you’re a Christian or not! However, the child of God can see that God has engineered it and say, “I glory in this tribulation.”

Patience

What do you do while you’re in the wine vat being pressed? Well, the Bible says, you are to develop a character trait known as patience. You have to experience the pressure in order to have something to be patient about. The word literally means “endurance” or “constancy.”

When troubles come, some Christians just drop out. Others get cynical and shake their fist in the face of God. Is that what you do? But you must endure! God wants to develop your Christian character. And one of the greatest marks of your faith and your confidence in the Almighty is your endurance, your perseverance, and your constancy when trouble comes.

Purity

After pressure and patience comes purity. Paul used the word experience that is translated many times as character. The word was actually used to speak of gold that has been put in the fire and refined until it is pure. God wants your character to be pure because it has gone through the experience of tribulation and perseverance. So He burns the dross (the impurities,) out of your life. They say that a refiner knows the gold is pure when he can see his own face reflected in it. Likewise, our Lord wants to see His character reflected in us.

Many of us don’t want that. But when do we really grow in our spiritual lives—when everything is smooth or when we experience trouble, heartache, pressure, and pain? We grow when we have nowhere to go but to God. That’s when we are refined and made pure.

Hope

Now we come to the fourth quality used to build Christian character—hope. Hope doesn’t mean just a wish or a desire. It means rock-ribbed assurance based on the Word of God and the character of God. When we go through pressure and receive patience and purity, we come out on the other side knowing that God is faithful. When that happens, we can say with the apostle Paul in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” One descriptive definition I read is, “Hope is faith in the future tense.” Hope is one of the greatest assets we have. In fact, if you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything!

Are you trying to build character with no foundation? Once you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, then upon that Foundation, Christian character is built. Then He can grow your Christian character by first of all pressure, then patience, after patience, purity, and finally rock-ribbed confidence in Almighty God.

Wait For the Wind

InspirationDaily iBlog

My nephew's 10 year old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I was enticing him to stay inside by joining him in a nintendo game. After being mercilessly defeated by a more experienced player, I suggested that we relax awhile. I collapsed into my favorite recliner to let my neck muscles relax and my ego recover from such a beating. He had slipped out of the room and I was catching a few relished moments of peace and quiet.

"Look, Alice," he said enthusiastically as he ran over to the chair where I was recovering.

"I found a kite. Could we go outside and fly it?"

Glancing out a nearby window, I noticed there was not a breeze stirring. "I'm sorry, Tripper," I said, sad to see his disappointed eyes, but thankful for the respite from more activity. "The wind is not blowing today. The kite won't fly."

The determined 10 year old replied. "I think it's windy enough. I can get it to fly," he answered, as he hurried out the back door. I peeked through the slats in the venetian blinds to watch determination in action. Up and down the yard he ran, pulling the kite attached to a small length of string. The plastic kite, proudly displaying a picture of Batman, remained about shoulder level. He ran back and forth, as hard as his ten year old legs would carry him, looking back hopefully at the kite trailing behind. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful determination, he came back in.

I asked, "How did it go?"

"Fine," he said, not wanting to admit defeat. "I got it to fly some."

As he walked past me to return the kite to the closet shelf, I heard him say under his breath, "I guess I'll have to wait for the wind."

At that moment I heard another Voice speak to my heart. "Alice. Sometimes you are just like that. You want to do it your way instead of waiting for the Wind."

And the voice was right. How easy it is to use our own efforts to accomplish what we want to do. We wait for the Wind only after we have done all we can and have exhausted our own strength. We must learn how to rely on Him in the first place!

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A kite will fly only when it is set against the wind.

Do Broken Seeds Still Grow?

By Mary Southerland

I am famous for my “brown thumb”. Even though we have moved several times over the years, changing climates, states, neighborhoods and soil conditions, nothing has altered the fact that if I touch any living plant, its chances for survival are slim. My husband has fared no better in his numerous attempts to plant trees and flowers. I fear that the “brown thumb” disease is contagious. There is more. I see undeniable evidence that this gardening malady is hereditary. My son, bless his heart, has tried to rescue wilted flower after crispy plant from his mother’s clutches. Like his father, every tree or flower planted by Jered has died. But there is hope! My daughter, Danna, is not only able to keep living plants alive for an impressive amount of time, she can plant seeds and green things will actually grow! It is absolutely amazing to me!

When Danna was in kindergarten she had a very creative science teacher, Miss Kay, who constantly planned fun activities and projects for the children. Danna loved her and was always talking about what she learned in science class. While waiting for Danna in the carpool line, I spotted her standing by Miss Kay, grinning from ear to ear, jumping up and down as if she simply couldn’t wait for me to get there. As I pulled up, Danna hopped into the car, gave a huge sigh of satisfaction and stretched out her tiny hand, proudly displaying the amazing reason for her enthusiasm - a wadded up paper towel.

Now I am normally very good at being excited about the things my kids find important, but for the life of me, I couldn’t fathom why Danna would be so thrilled with a crumpled paper towel. “Honey, what is that?” I asked. She looked up at me with sparkling brown eyes and whispered, “Mom, there are seeds in here. Miss Kay gave them to me and I am going to plant them and they are going to grow. Can you believe it?”

Given my morbid experience with seeds, I declined to answer that question but instead, chose to join my daughter in her excitement – until I saw the seeds. Evidently, Danna had been carrying them around all day because when she carefully unfolded the paper towel, all I could see was a big mess of broken, mismatched, crushed and crumbled seeds. Looking into the eager eyes of my daughter I said, “Honey, if these seeds don’t grow for some reason, remember that we can go to the store and buy new ones.” Clutching the seeds tightly to her heart and safely out of my reach, Danna said, “Mama, they have to grow ‘cause I prayed and asked God to please make them grow and He said He would!” I began planning a trip to Wal-Mart.

Danna was silent all the way home but when we pulled into our driveway she jumped out of the car and darted into the house, leaving her doubting mother behind. Moments later, Danna reappeared with a small paper cup in her hand. I watched as she scooped up dirt from the front flower bed and marched confidently back into the house. I followed her, moaning my silent complaint, “Father, do you realize that your reputation is on the line here? Why did she have to pick that particular flower bed, the one we filled with rocks because nothing, not even weeds, will grow there?” Once again I tried to reason with Danna. “Honey, why don’t we just buy some new seeds?” Ignoring my faithless question, Danna stuffed the broken seeds down into the cup, marched to the kitchen sink and, placing the cup under the faucet, turned the water on full blast. Just as fast as the seeds and dirt spilled over the edge of the cup into the sink, Danna scooped them up and poked them back in, all the way to the bottom of the cup so they couldn’t escape. “Miss Kay says that they have to have sunshine to grow.” With this announcement, she placed her soggy cup of broken, mismatched seeds on the kitchen window sill that looks out over our screened-in porch; a place purposely designed to receive no sunlight at all. By this time, I knew my words were falling on deaf ears and decided to let God handle this one on His own.

Several days later, I was standing at the kitchen sink preparing dinner, when I glanced out on the porch to see my daughter’s faith on spectacular display. A small paper cup filled with green sprouts confronted my doubting heart. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Dropping the potatoes in the sink, I literally ran to Danna’s room shouting, “Danna! Danna! Your seeds are growing!” I found her calmly playing “Chutes and Ladders” with Danielle, her best friend. “Danna! Did you hear me? Your seeds are growing!” A brief glance and knowing smile from Danna said it all. “I know!” She and Danielle resumed their game, leaving me to gaze in awe and wonder at the faith of my child who dared to believe in a broken dream.

I know you are desperately clinging to the broken and mismatched remnants of your life, wondering how you can go on. Whispers of the enemy creep into your heart, soul and mind, taunting you with the lie that you are just too dirty and broken for God to love or use. It seems as if nothing and no one can change that reality, so you might as well give up.

Nothing could be further from the truth, my friend. In fact, God is drawn to broken people, choosing the most broken to do His highest work. Never underestimate the power of one, tiny broken seed. Placed in the right hands, it will surely grow into an expression of His beauty for all to see.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit.
A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise. (NLT)

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Mary Southerland is the author of Coming Out of the Dark, Sandpaper People, Experiencing God’s Power in Your Ministry, and Escaping the Stress Trap. Mary is the founder of Journey Ministry, member of Girlfriends in God (featured among Crosswalk.com's daily devotional offerings), and a popular international speaker for conventions, retreats, and conferences. For more information, contact Mary by emailing her at: journeyfriends@cs.com or visit her website at: www.marysoutherland.com.