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 FROM START TO FINISH

Hebrews 12:1-2

“As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, upon Whom our faith depends from start to finish.” 

My faith depends upon Jesus Christ from start to finish. Faith is a gift from God; salvation is a gift from God and depends upon God for “salvation is from the Lord. Since my faith and living this new life is by the grace of God in the Holy Spirit’s power, it has little or nothing to do with the way I feel at any one moment. My faith is grounded solely in Jesus Christ and He is the One Who has grounded me in Himself.

It is because Jesus Christ is utterly faithful that I am now living in faith, hope, and confidence. It is only because of all He had already accomplished and is bringing to competition in me by the work of the Holy Spirit that I live in faith. As the hymn goes, my hope is built on nothing less and nothing more than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

This life I’ve been given by God, this life of faith, courage and authority in His name is much like a garden. God, by His grace has tilled and will continue to till the soil of my life, breaking up any hardness of heart, indifference of mind, and stubbornness of will, removing rocks and thorns and soul-shallowness so His Word can take root and produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Because I live in a broken world and the residue of my old sin nature, cut off by the Lord Himself, still can resonate to the lies and folly of sin, I need Him. Weeds are a given in any cultivated garden, and I need the weeding effect of the Word of God internalized by the Holy Spirit to pull up the weeds of sin that would try and sap the life out of me. This “garden” needs a Gardener!

What God has planted in me, His Word and the gift of Eternal Life, He is committed to bring to fruitfulness and maturity. Having begun a good work, He promises to bring that work to completion by the Day of Christ. I am trusting Him to cultivate, to feed, to water, to weed and to tend the garden of my life. It all depends upon Him from start to finish, and I can trust Him, faithful and true.

1 Peter 1:3-9

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”


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