FINISHING WHAT YOU STARTED

Image result for CLIP ART SHOWING COMPLETIONI remember an ole quote of my sage Grandmother, "Once a task has begun, do not leave it until it is done."  I wished I did not have to report that I have two sweaters, and one Afghan lying around in process, which need completion.  They have each been on the needles for years. Ugh! Someday...

Psalm 138 is a psalm written by David.  Hear David's heart as he exuberantly praises God, "Thank you!  Everything in me says, "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.  I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: "Thank you!" Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness.  Most holy is your name, most holy is your word.  The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength."  (From the Message) David is an ole guy with whom you and I can identify: flawed, fragile, finite, yet, thankful.  I love his transparency.  He experiences great victories, great moral defeats, and even what you and I consider a heinous sin, murder. We come from Psalm 51 as he is pouring out his confession of sin, transgression, and iniquity to this Psalm 138 which is thanksgiving for answered prayer and for protection. After the debacle with Bathsheba, the death of a child, and the betrayal of his son, Absalom against him, he could have thrown up his hands and confessed he was a sorry outfit and  admitted he was never going to be any different...a misfit, useless for God's purpose. Because he HAD a sensitive and repentant heart, he could move to request of God...finish what you started in me. 

 Rather than retreating in disappointment and dismay, he closes the Psalm"When I walk into the thick of trouble; keep me alive in the angry turmoil.  With one hand shake my foes, with your other hand save me.  Finish what you started in me, God, you love is eternal--don't quit on me."  Hear Paul's echo in Philippians 1:6 "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears."  There are those times that we so weary of our selves and our sins, but the really real is that God is committed to complete what He has begun in Christ Jesus in us.  We will be conformed to the IMAGE of HIS DEAR SON, JESUS.   Father, continue to strengthen me for I want to finish well to Your praise and glory .  Yes, I well know, it may be ugly at times in working out my salvation in this life.  I desire NOT to quit on You. #IHAVETHREESONS  

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