Certainly the ongoing task of securing the freedoms we all enjoy, is never ending. In the process, our nation has been involved in one conflict after another, both at home and abroad. It is one of the unfinished tasks, we constantly must pursue. But let me ask you today, (what unfinished task have you always known you aught to do but just never got around to getting it done)…those things seem to shadow all of us as our unfinished tasks, always calling out in the back of our minds.. “There’s more to do”… “There’s more to do”..
The first unfinished task of every believer…is love…So here’s a thought for you….God is more interested in who you don’t love, than He is in who you do love! Our true identity as Christians, and the best barometer of our spiritual growth and health, is what and who we don’t lovein this world of ours!
Jesus said 1 John 4:20 that if we say we love Him but don’t love our neighbor, we are only fooling ourselves!
So, it’s important to God who you don’t love.. as well as who you do love….
Growing in love, is always the unfinished task, because with each new opportunity to love those who are hard to love, our love is being perfected and becoming more and more like His love. Just when you think you’ve got it…..you’re thrown into another situation, another challenge, and another chance to develop and grow in your love life.
When Jesus said, the greatest of these is love….He was giving us priorities for our personal “to do” list! He putsgrowing and developing in love, up there above tongues, prophecy, and even works of faith….
1Corinthians 13:2 “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing”..
If you were to make a list of folks you don’t love or don’teven like, and then put a check mark by the ones that God loves….I think all of them would get a check mark from Jesus, after all, He loves the whole world enough to die for it, so isn’t our challenge to love who Jesus loves and was willing to die for?
This church, and the church corporately, around the globe, every day, is facing an unfinished mission….Our very identity, is largely shaped and organized around our mission. But instead of seeing the church as having a mission, the greater reality *….is that God’s mission has a church and a people in the earth to carry out His vision. We all serve His vision, but many have focused instead, on serving His church….. In Key West, you can reach people from around the world, just by walking anywhere around town….When we care about His vision, then we will serve and represent His church more effectively. When we lose sight of His mission as the main focus of the church, then we are set adrift and lose our real and actual purpose for existence. If our heart isn’t in it, then our body, our giving, Our witnessing, our time, our talent, and our prayers, probably aren’t involved either…..
I want everyone to say with me “I AM”… Now, whatever you put after that can reshape your future, or leave you in the same groove you have been trying to climb out of…. You can start by saying “I AM” better than that….“I AM” above that!
A couple were having car trouble and were relieved to find a mechanic still available at that time of night. Something about the engine needed attention. The mechanic looked at the engine, while a helper stood by, with the beams of a *….flashlight flooding the engine compartment. Something attracted the helper's attention. As he turned away he inadvertently turned the light away from the area that the mechanic was working, leaving him in the dark. The mechanic looked up, and with impatience exclaimed: "Where’s your light! What do you think I have you here for anyway?"
Something to think about in that sentence. “Where’s your light, it’s why you’re in that place with that person, anyway!
As I was composing this message, I wrote this little poem… I call it “The Lamplighter”
The street was dark as the lamplighter came, and he lifted his pole and set the wicks aflame
And one by one the darkness was pierced, by the light which drove back the shadows of fear
For when he was done and the street was all lit, hope and comfort were flooding it.
It was not his purpose to make himself seen, for what mattered was that the light was esteemed.
So let your good works so shine before men, that Jesus will shine with forgiveness of sin..
And the world will be brighter and faith will arise, when the Savior pierces the darkness with light.
David Livingstone was one of God’s bright lights to Africa. The body of David Livingstone was buried in England where he was born, but his heart was buried in the Africa that he loved. At the foot of a tall tree in a small African village in Zambia, the natives gathered from miles around and with great respect and honor, they placed the heart of this man who they loved and revered in it’s final resting place.
If your heart were to be buried in the place you loved most during this life, where would it be? Would they be putting it in the vault down at the bank, would your retirement account have to come and get it…. would it be buried out on the reef…. Or placed on the refrigerator… Where is your heart? Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart is also”….Our challenge is to be 100% where we are, doing what we’re doing with all our heart, not just our bodies… We can do that when we do it unto the Lord.
The unfinished task not only requires that we see the world from the church, but we need to see the church from the world Jesus was ridiculed because He ate with publicans and sinners…He was more concerned about being the church in the world, than He was about getting the world into the church….If we remove the “Go” from the gospel, all we have is a Christian club which has a form of godliness which denies the power, so it never translates, demonstrates and transfers to the lost, the hopeless, and the hurting of the world. It’s not the “Come-spel” but it’s “Gospel” The attitude that says, “Well, we’re here, if they want to come, here we are”, just won’t work….4,000 churches closed down and 1,400 ministers left the ministry last year in the U.S. Every week, our church or any church is just weeks from closing without the “Go” in gospel….None of us can do it all, but we can all do something every day…..
Life is a puzzle that you and God are working on together….So, we must always look at the work of the church in the world, as unfinished business… just as we are to always see ourselves as unfinished business! You are not defined by any one moment or time, but you are a process that is developing line upon line, precept upon precept, from glory to glory!
I was inspired to also write this short free verse ….”I Am Becoming , No single part of me is the whole of me. I am becoming... I am not yet, I am not there yet, But I am becoming.. Don't judge me now, I will get there, I am becoming”....
One of the dangers we may have when we are in a particular setting for very long, and doing things a certain way too long, is that we begin to define the whole puzzle according to our experiences and our own personal need.
There’s a word I want to consider here. It’s “Attrition” …It’s about our legacy and the need to keep things in God’s hands because most of what we begin in the kingdom, will be finished by someone else. Someone else will water the seed we have sown, someone else will harvest the crop we have nurtured, someone else will reap what we have planted….If we understand attrition then we can rejoice together, as we see our part connecting with all the other parts of the puzzle….
John 4:36 tells us that, “One sows, and another reaps but we all rejoice together in the harvest”. Our joy is fulfilled in being used of the Lord, no matter what part He chooses for us in this unfinished business!
The place of indecision, is in and of itself, a decision …When it’s about life, we can’t say “Let Mikey do it”… No one else can do our living for us….And we find that more and more choices are being made for us, but we are the ones responsible with how we respond….The danger is that we may sing and preach about how awesome, how powerful, and how wonderful our God is, and go out and do nothing with it except survive another week in our temporary jobs, living in our temporary homes, driving our temporary cars, shopping for our temporary food, and earning our temporary money, while the task of the eternal and far more valuable things remain unfinished and undone…. God will work in mysterious ways as He movesus through our unfinished phases…
The altar is always a good place to end up….A man was angry because he thought someone stole his wallet. So he walks into a church determined to steal someone else's wallet, but he has a change of heart during the service. He goes to the altar at the end of the service and the pastor comes over as he is repenting and he tells him what his intentions had initially been. The pastor asks, "What made you change your mind?" The man says, "In your sermon on the Ten Commandments when you got to 'Thou shall not commit adultery,' I remembered where I left my wallet!"
Sometimes we lose our passion about coming to church, because our focus is on coming to church instead of being the church all week long, in the places in our life where it is observable and measurable…. on the job, at home, in adverse situations.
We have abandoned the unfinished business of the gospel, and see the church as a place to come to instead of a place to be sent out from! The early church was called “Ecclesia” or sent ones…. They saw themselves as sent into the world by Christ the sender..
Revival will always be unfinished business…because it is a process, not an event…It is a process of reformation, regeneration, and transformation. Nehemiah is a book of the bible whose major theme is revival, and it describes the heart beat of a person who God used instrumentally to bring that about. Any person seriously seeking to stir up the always unfinished work of revival in their time needs to read the truths of this book.
The focal point of the book of Nehemiah begins with Nehemiah, himself. We see this revivalist weep, fast, and pray for his people. We see him as he is embedded with a vision of God’s heart for his people. We see his burning passion to rebuild Jerusalem again, in order that it might be the glory of the nations. Nehemiah 2:12-13 I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do forJerusalem. I went out by night, and I inspected the walls that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire…”
As the passion of the great task consumed him, he began to see people drawn together and coming together to accomplish the vision with him, which immediately lets us know that there are many others who had received the same vision, and are sensing the heart of God for revival as well. Together, they begin to serve the vision of the Lord for the City, for restoration, and for revival.
If we could hear each person’s story, as they worked on the unfinished task, we would hear of dreams, visions, whispers in the night, and stirrings of the heart by God’s Spirit, for the work of revival is never done alone, nor is it ever finished.
So, press in, and you will see God do His wonderful suddenly, once again, and again! And there will always be those of kindred spirit!!!
Dr. Douglas Brown preached on the fullness of the Spirit in Wales, and God did a mighty thing as God overwhelmed the people with His presence. One young man followed him into his room, and cried: 'Sir, it's all right telling me to be filled, but I'm full of cracks and keep leaking out. Dr Brown replied: 'So what, if you are full of cracks? Even a basket when lowered into the sea, will be filled with water, and it will remain full - if it stays immersed in the ocean it cannot be emptied. It will only lose its contents if it'sremoved from the sea. He said, “Young man, cracks and all, abide in Christ and you will always be filled by the Spirit' –
Revival is an extraordinary expression of God’s presence which produces extraordinary results. Revival establishes His preeminence among us. Revival is war on the Devil’s kingdom by God’s kingdom in the power of the Spirit!!
With nothing but piles and piles of rubble all around him, Nehemiah caught a glimpse by God’s Spirit, of what it would all look like when the vision came to pass. He saw God’s glory upon it, and that vision’s Holy flame consumed his doubts and fears….In the same way, God is showing his visionaries, our city, our churches, our homes, the way they would look and be, when revival comes! They’re seeing what God is seeing and if we see that, we can have what we see!!!
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.v2 For by it the elders (the visionaries) obtained a good report. v3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.v4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it,he being dead, yet speaks.
v5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.v6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Prayer ushers the kingdom of heaven, into the kingdoms of earth…. And the realm of heaven invades the realms of this earth! There has never been a major move of God in history, that has not been preceded by massive movements of sustained prayer and fasting through God’s people. This, begins with the book of Acts all the way up to this very moment, today. It is in the understanding that there is a kingdom within a kingdom…that caused an open heavens on The Day of Pentecost, the Azusa street revival, the Welsh revival, the Cane Ridge outpouring, and the Pensacola revival….and all these shook the nations.
I came across this little story….. about a small west Texas town. It was a dry town, no bars and no liquor stores. It was a town filled with lots of Christians. But then, an atheist moved into town and he got approval to build a tavern and to start selling alcohol.
And he chose to put his tavern, of all places, just across the cul-de-sac from First church. Well, the church didn't like that at all. The construction went up, and then it was finished, and the next day it was going to be open for business. And so the church called a big prayer meeting and they prayed and prayed and prayed hours and hours that God would intervene, that God would shut down the tavern.
And that night after the prayer meeting there was a big storm and a bolt of lightning struck the tavern and started a fire and burned it to the ground. Well, the tavern owner, the atheist, was pretty upset about that. And he went to the church and said, ''You guys need to pay for this.'' They said, ''We're not going to pay for this, because we maintain that we're not responsible for this.'' And the atheist said ''Yes, you are, you prayed for this to happen.'' So because they wouldn't pay, he sued them, and took them to court. Now the judge was looking at the case, and he said this in his opening remarks, he said, ''You know, this is a strange case, and I don't know how it's going to turn out. But one thing is for certain, it is clear that this atheist has come to believe in the power of prayer and the Christians are claiming that they really don't''
Now, Nehemiah was just one man, and his prayer brought him before the king of the largest empire in the earth at the time. Not only did prayer lead him there, but prayer produced a good effect on the king, long before Nehemiah began talking with him and his heart was prepared to be the agent of provision for the vision….
God’s Spirit went forth and softened the king’s heart, the same spirit raised up leadership, and skilled workmen, it released provisions and resources, and it won the battle before it was even fought!
You can see it again, If you look at Joseph, it was through prayer that Joseph moved through the divinely arranged opportunities and connections, through the pit, through Potiphar and his lying wife, through the prison, and through the Pharaoh….all the way to restoration and vindication…..
The pit was the launching pad, (you see it as a pit, God sees it as your launching pad) See it the way God sees it….
But, let’s get back to Nehemiah….
In Nehemiah 1:4 “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven”…It is here, not in great preaching, great music, good sound systems, or padded seats alone, or even spectacular marketing…it is in the place of prayer, that believers are needing to experience the secret revival so that the open, public revival can come that everyone shall see.
We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, but few pray-ers; many singers, but only a few clingers; many fears, but few tears; a lot of fashion, but very little passion; many writers, but only a few fighters. And failing here, we fail everywhere.
The secret of personal power, is praying in the secret place. Jesus got alone with God so He wouldn’t be distracted by the kingdom of men, in order to bring the Kingdom of heaven into the earth…..
A praying man will stop sinning and a sinning man willstop praying and we will never be truly whole, until we have been broken in prayer….. Revival is about coming to God on God's terms, and to come to God in His way and on His time table. Paul tells us he was often in watchings in the night season.
To fulfill our part of the unfinished task…we must have the ingredient of “planned neglect”….
A famous concert violinist was asked the secret of her mastery of the instrument. The woman answered the question with two words: "Planned neglect." Then she explained. "There were many things that used to demand my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, then I straightened the room, dusted, fixed my hair and my make-up, and did whatever seemed necessary. When I finished all that, then I took up my violin to practice. But that system prevented me from excelling and becoming what I could be, on the violin. So I reversed things. I deliberately planned to neglect everything else until my practice time on the violin was complete. And that program of planned neglect is the secret ingredient of all of my success."
Prayer Should be a priority, not a last resort!.... We will have a dynamic and effective prayer life, when we make it a priority to have one… Many Christians act as though prayer is the dirty work of the church, right up there with cleaning toilets or changing diapers in the nursery….. No person is any greater than their prayer life. The Christian who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.
May we get a fresh revelation of James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.
The prayer closet allows no one to show off but Jesus. Prayer is one place where heaven applauds where the eyes of the public cannot see….It is truly the neck that turns the head of the church, which is Christ….
I think of the words of David, as he faced the giant Goliath…. 1Samuel 17:47 “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands”.
Prayer can move presidents and nations. It can move the most powerful people on earth to do God’s will because Heis Lord over all of them. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof….Prayer can move people groups, it can move cities, it can shake schools, it will change families. With Prayer, one size fits all. Without prayer, Christians are nothing. With prayer, Christians are everything they need to be, for whatever is needed.
Very subtly, we may have exchanged vigilance and preparedness for popularity and acceptance….Today, many have replaced holiness with liberty, and we have replaced a walk in the spirit, with religious activities and good works. We have exchanged the demonstration of God’s power with social goodness, and we have allowed the user friendly approach by the church, to replace consecration, commitment and sacrifice. And the results has been a loss of spiritual vitality and impact.
But we do not lose hope, for we live in the unfinished task of revival which is ever before us…..and something is stirring, something is rising up, something is starting to shift and shake…..Someone in their spirit is saying, enough, no more, I will not be denied!!!!! I will not be kept back, or held down any longer….it’s my birthright, and Iwill accept no less!!!!
2 Kings 2:14: “And Elisha took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah”? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha moved forward and passed over”.
The original Hebrew indicates that Elisha struck the waters and nothing happened, so it is then that he asked the question we all ask from time to time, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” He finds his faith strengthened for the task, and the Hebrew indicates that he strikes the water again. When it came time for Elisha to take on the mantle, He has been a background person, and now suddenly he is up front in the heat of the battle, with no person to stand behind….It’s a big adjustment… But God is faithful….
The Elisha of the plow who did not yet know his identity, is not the same as the Elisha who picked up and used the mantle. The Israelites of the Red Sea are not the same as the Israelites who entered the promise. They have been changed. God has touched them and they have learned to trust His touch and move forth in the calling and anointing which is upon their destiny.
Perhaps you have tried to open the waters before, without a true understanding of the mantle and the calling and anointing upon your life. But you are not that same person any longer, you have never been at this place before, and you have come to recognize your calling and you have learned to hear the voice of God and you’ve learned to trust his touch. And now you stand, at another river crossing, as you will many times to come, and perhaps you’re asking, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
The waters are ready to part, the task before you, knows you’re coming, because God’s spirit is stirring the watersahead of you, but they can’t open until you touch them. God wants to move, but He cannot until you are willing totake up the mantle and carry it forth and pass over into the place of fulfillment.
Hear Paul’s final words…. 2Timothy 4:6 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. v7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: v8 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”.
Let’s Remember, that it wasn’t raining when Noah finishedthe ark….There was no last minute rush here… Just like the rain which came for Noah… We cannot have a last minute mentality… We can’t keep putting off bringing that person to church, or leading them to the Lord…. We can’t keep putting off that step of obedience which may be inconvenient or uncomfortable.
We are called to be part of the Great Unfinished task, but Let’s not get to the end of our lives with the most important things that are our part, and ours alone… unfinished… (tell someone, “With God’s help, let’s finish this!!!”)
How’s your list looking?…..
We only have right now, we only have today, because tomorrow never comes….
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”
I have been with folks when they were dying and I usuallyask them if there is something that is unfinished in their lives, something they have still not taken care of….Perhaps it’s forgiveness and reconciliation, perhaps it’s fulfilling a vow they made to God, perhaps it’s witnessing to family and friends which they have avoided doing…. Many times as we pray, their strength will return, they will rally long enough to get the unfinished stuff finished, then they will peacefully go home to their reward… I ask you today, is there something you need to finish, that has gone unfinished…. I pray that our unfinished things will motivate us to move into action, and delay no longer….
Prayer…. Father, I bring You the parts of me that still need to yield to you, and I give you the fear, the disappointment and the hurt. I give you my stubborn determination and I say your love is greater still—your love is transforming me. I ask that you would shine your light, and expose every place in me that has yet to surrender to you as my guide, my comforter and my dearest friend. Lord Jesus, You have placed dreams within me that are yet to be fulfilled. I ask and believe that you would not place these things within me if I could not accomplish them in a single lifetime.
Lord, allow me to stand before You, giving You all the glory because you have allowed me to see these dreams fulfilled. Do not give me vision so narrow and a heart so small, that I will not need you, in order to complete them. But may my dreams be so large that without you they would be impossible. Lord, as I am faithful to serve and honor You, it is my prayer that you would allow me to leave blessings and provision to my heirs that would allow them to have a head start in fulfilling their dreams as well. “Lord, may my eyes always see where You are in every circumstance and situation. Let me be faithful in carrying out the greatest mission that you designed for me, and fulfill the purpose of giving the truth and love of Christ to every one you have placed in my path.” I thank You and give You glory for this, in Jesus Name…
