Day 40 Finishing Well

 2/9/2025

 

Where to begin? This morning I was awakened by a vivid dream that left me wondering how it applies to me, and what do I do with it? Following the dream, I received news about the failing health of a young hostage, who is not on the list to be released in this ceasefire phase. All the feelings of yesterday resurfaced, and I became very upset. Now, when I close my eyes, I see faces. 

I had hoped to attend church this morning, but my back pain came back, so I turned on Harvest Ministries. Pastor Greg finished up the series on Nehemiah today, so we'll begin another series next week. After the walls are rebuilt in Jerusalem, Nehemiah returns to Persia. Later, he got wind of bad things going on in Israel, once again he was granted permission to go back home and handle it. It seems that compromise had settled in, and the people who vowed to follow God's laws, had not been doing so. Upon his return  Nehemiah handled things quite nicely, and the people returned to the Lord. Pastor Greg pointed out how  the church of Ephesus mentioned in Revelation had unwittingly compromised their service to God, and they were cautioned to return to their first love. As Nehemiah had gotten the people of Israel back on course, so God was doing with the church in Ephesus. Sometimes in our zeal to serve the Lord, we begin to strive or focus on performance, and we slack off or lose focus of what we should be doing.

Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ compared working out our salvation with running a race (Hebrews 12:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 9:24). When running we strive for the prize, to make it to the finish line doing well. This is our focus in following Christ, to finish our spiritual race, God's plan and purpose for our lives, and finish well by doing our best, keeping the faith. He reminded us that Jesus had given us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 as His final word before ascending to His Father in heaven, "I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all the commands I  have given you; and be sure of this -that I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Just as seen in Nehemiah, in completing the assignment God has given us, we will face opposition and persecution for our faith. But like Nehemiah's determination, we stand side by side with a trowel in one hand, and the sword of the Spirit in the other. Our trowel is the work we do, and our sword is the Word of God.

As usually happens, whenever God wants to get my attention, the same information is repeated three times. My daily prayer devotional also spoke from Hebrews 12:1-2 about throwing off whatever easily entangles us. The third reminder came during our time of prayer for Israel this morning. Someone mentioned the portion of scripture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which speaks of being ready for Christ's return. Although this passage of scripture has been used to encourage someone that they will be reunited with their loved ones who have died in Christ, it still can be an encouragement to ensure we are ready to meet Jesus when He returns. Today is the day of salvation, so we must be diligent about walking in faith and following His commands. I remembered the passage in Luke 18:8 where Jesus asks the question "...when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" 

This is the question, is it not?