Alistair Begg Devotional

Alistair Begg Devotional God Finishes What He Starts

God Finishes What He Starts

God Finishes What He Starts

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

When God begins a work, He always completes it.

In Acts 16, we meet Lydia, a successful woman with her own business and a nice house in Philippi. She had an interest in religion—and then she was changed (Acts
16:14-15). What happened? God began a work. Later in the same chapter, we see a Philippian jailer come off his night shift also radically changed (v 30-34). What happened? Again, God began a work. We can imagine, then, that when Lydia or the jailer were tempted to give up, the word of God through Paul’s letter to Philippi was there to remind them: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” In other words, You didn’t start the work within you, and you aren’t going to finish it. If you feel that you can’t keep going, you’re right. You can’t. But God did, and He can, and He will.

God has a long-term plan for His people: that each of us will see and share in the glory of His Son. That is the end to which He is working (Romans 8:28-30). So we, like Lydia and the jailer, have both the need and ability to stay in the race of faith for the long haul.

While it always remains true that God gives all of us many gifts, our lives nonetheless can seem to be filled with disappointments. We continue to give in to sin. We struggle with doubts, and life’s circumstances make it hard to keep going in faith. But we can and will continue on the journey, because Scripture promises us that our God “began a good work” and that He will finish it. As we stumble along the way and face difficulties, we’re tempted to go back down to the bottom of the mountain, trade our hiking boots for slippers, and head back home. But there’s a view at the top that’s worth every ache and pain along the way! And so the word of God comes to us again and again, saying, Come on, just a little farther. Don’t be concerned about all of your tomorrows. God Himself is helping you. Keep walking the way today.

God finishes what He starts. And if you are trusting Christ, then He has started something eternal in you. When you feel overwhelmed at the journey ahead of you, or when the route today looks too steep, find encouragement in these words:

My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on His heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace.
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is giv’n;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heav’n.[1]
Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of mAscents.

1I vlift up my eyes to wthe hills.

From where does my help come?

2xMy help comes from the Lord,

who ymade heaven and earth.

3He will not zlet your foot be moved;

he who akeeps you will not slumber.

4Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your bshade on your cright hand.

6dThe sun shall not estrike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7The Lord will akeep you from all evil;

he will akeep your life.

8The Lord will keep

your fgoing out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 Augustus Toplady, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” (1771).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

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