Day 99 with David: The Lord completes His work.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭138:8‬ NKJV

There’s a funny thing about compliments. Let me first say, we all love compliments, don’t we? But here’s the odd thing about compliments: someone can compliment you on something that is just a natural part of who you are—whether it be a talent like singing or dancing, whatever the attribute—and though you appreciate the compliment, you now feel “pressure” to continue to be seen the way they have seen you. (Am I only talking about myself here?)

Now think about it: they have complimented you on something that is just a normal part of your being, a gift from God. Now you are going to try to keep up with that perception by working at what came naturally.

Let me break it down. Let’s say you go somewhere and someone compliments your hair. Well, you don’t know what you did differently about your hair; but now you’re looking at it, trying to figure out what you did. You don’t know how it got that way, so you don’t know how to keep it that way.

Here’s the point:

Who we become in God through Jesus Christ is a gift from God. Now of course we treasure what God has given us and we follow the leading of His Spirit. But, if the Lord has done this new work in us, how can we expect to make sure we don’t miss the mark? God started it; and God will finish it.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A few years ago I was being dramatic before the Lord about not wanting to miss His will. He spoke very clearly to me and said, “Janet, I will not let you miss it.” Now, who does this promise apply to? It applies to anyone who has a heart toward God, and having been made a new creation through Jesus Christ, are looking to Him to finish the work He began.

Paul addressed the problem of trying to earn the gift of God to the church at Galatia. They had received the joy of salvation, but, in listening to all the opinions of some of the Jews, were going to try to keep the Law, trying to earn what had been given to them freely!

“How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our portion from Psalms today we see that David is conscious of the fact that God will not let him miss it; He won’t abandon him in the process.

As we have discussed many times, David knew that the Lord was his Good Shepherd and would lead him where he needed to be:

“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

David trusted the Lord to complete what he had started. After all, it was through no effort or work on David‘s part that he came on the scene as a giant slayer. The Lord had used his experience with the sheep to train him; and was able to teach him because his heart was always seeking after the heart of God. But God put him in that position and enabled him to be the hero that day.

If you have made Jesus Savior and Lord of your life and are seeking after His heart, wanting His purpose fulfilled in you, then He will not let you miss it. So relax. Let your Creator and Shepherd—your Author and Finisher—complete you!

On this next to the last day on our “100 Days with David” let us know and understand what David knew:

The Lord completes His work.

#100dayswithdavid