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Topic: You can Finish Well!
(Open Heaven 17 September 2019)Memorise: For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. – 2 Timothy 1:12
Read: John 17:1-12 (KJV)
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Bible in One Year: 2 Kings 1-2, Daniel 4:4-18
Open Heaven 17 September 2019 Tuesday MESSAGE:
When I newly gave my life to Christ, the love of God in me made me burn with zeal to please the One who paid the supreme price to save my soul. However, some people I met in the faith mocked my zeal and said to each other, “Leave him alone; he will soon be tired and slow down.” I thank God that He has not allowed their prediction come true in my life. For this reason, I can stand to testify, as Paul did in today’s memory verse, that God is indeed able to keep what is entrusted to Him to the very end.
Paul was a man whose life proved that faith in the sustaining grace of God is not a waste. God kept him going in the Christian race and helped him to finish well and strong. At the end of his life, Paul was able to say in 2 Timothy 4:6-8:
“6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
How was Paul able to finish his Christian race well in spite of the many obstacles he faced? The answer lies in today’s Bible reading. Before our Lord Jesus Christ left the earth, He devoted a substantial amount of time to pray that the faith of those who genuinely belong to Him should endure. As part of His prayer, He also said in John 17:12:
“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”
This is something for us to think about. Judas was given equal opportunity not to end his race the way he did, but he chose to be a son of perdition. We learn from him that making it to the very end is a matter of the choices we make every day. Those who will cross the finish line are those who give heed to the Lord’s warning in Luke 12:15, which says:
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Beloved, I assure you that you can make it to the very end. Hold the fort and don’t comprise your faith. Keep on the firing line, and you will make it in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heaven 17 September 2019 Tuesday Prayer Point:
Father, please uphold me in Your holy hands to the very end in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heaven 17 September 2019 Tuesday Hymn 17: Hold The Fort
1 Ho! my comrades, see the signal,
Waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh!
Chorus:
“Hold the fort, for I am coming,”
Jesus signals still,
Wave the answer back to Heaven,
“By Thy grace we will.”
2 See the mighty host advancing,
Satan leading on;
Mighty men around us falling,
Courage almost gone.
3 See the glorious banner waving,
Hear the bugle blow;
In our Leader’s Name we triumph
Over every foe.
4 Fierce and long the battle rages,
But our help is near;
Onward comes our great Commander,
Cheer, my comrades, cheer!
