It is Finsihed!

The other day I received a phone call from my dad and he instructed that they were had caught 32 fish where they had went fishing. He then proceeded to tell me in a polite way as only a dad can that I was to clear my calendar and go fishing with him. I was very happy to do so. It’s not every day that I get to go fishing with my dad. We had fun caught some fish and we when got home the work began. My work wasn’t complete or finished until we cleaned them. When the last one was cleaned we were finished. We were exhausted but filled with joy because our work was complete. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes with that. I am sure that at some point in a project you to where glad to say it is finished. The sense of accomplishment does the soul well. Well on this day over two thousand years ago the words “It is finished” were spoken by Jesus before he died on the cross. I invite you to read with me John 19:28-30 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (ESV) Have you ever thought about these words “It is finished”? The reason why these words are so powerful is because Jesus paid for our sin debt in full. He completed the work of redemption. He paid our sin debt with his own blood to God the Father so that we could be forgiven and adapted in God’s family. Here is our struggle, we want to add something to the finished work of salvation that Christ completed. The reason why we cannot add anything thing to the finished work of what Jesus did on the cross is because he said “It is finished!” When God raised Jesus Christ from the grave he showed that he approved of his atoning sacrifice that was done on the cross. Paul writes this in his letter to the Ephesians in 2:14-16 “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” God is inviting you to place your faith in the finished work of his son Jesus Christ, your response to this invitation determines the outcome of your eternal destination. No matter what your religious background is God invitation is “Come to Jesus He is Risen!”

Accepting the Spirit's help

You know accepting help sometimes is the hardest part of living as a person. I want to do it one my own. When if the truth is known deep down I really could use some help to help me with whatever it is that I am doing. Do you have this same struggle with accepting help because you want to do it on your own? The most difficult part about becoming a Christian is accepting Jesus help in salvation. We cannot save ourselves he has to help us by doing the work of salvation for us completely. Being saved by Jesus is just the beginning. We cannot keep ourselves saved either, he does that for us to. You may struggle with this to, but being saved from ones sins is a work of God from beginning to end. What about approaching God through prayer. If you were taught to pray at the mealtime your parent probably taught you this prayer: God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Bow our heads we are all fed. Thank you Lord for daily bread. Amen! This is one of our weakness that we need help with as Christians-learning how to have a conversation with our heavenly Father. Jesus taught the Disciples how to pray because they asked him to teach them how to pray. But today, we have not only the word of God to help us to learn how to pray but we have a Helper, who will come along side of us and help us in our prayer life. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to prayer for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27) Are we willing to accept the Spirits help in our prayer life. If we are willing to admit to the Lord that we need help in our prayer life then God’s grace is there to help us. We can then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) So if we have the help of the Spirit in our prayer life, and we can come boldly to the throne of grace to ask for help in time of need then why don’t we. If we listen to the guidance of the Helper, the Spirit of Truth, he will come along side us and help us, he will teach what to ask for in prayer and when we ask for what is on God’s heart we have answered prayer. I John 5:13-15 teaches us this. If you would like to learn more about the Spirit’s work in the life of a follower of Jesus I invite you to church Sunday.