He's Not Finished Yet!

Michael E. Wood
February 8, 2011

Words can not express how thankful I am to our gracious God and heavenly Father Who has blessed us so richly with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has not only saved us but given us His Spirit, and endowed us with spiritual gifts whereby He not only enables us to bring glory to Himself, but enables us to be used of Him to build up the body of saints, as each joint supplies, growing up into one Holy temple, unto the praise of the glory of His grace.

Recently I read that 85% of Americans believe in God. Is it not obvious that most that make this claim are now presently in the state of which I too formally found myself in; religious but lost? Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof? In this present day even the “form” has taken on so many distortions that in many cases professing atheists hold to higher standards of morality and know the Bible better than do professing Christians.

False experiences may cause a certain amount of zeal, and even a great deal of what is commonly called religion. However it is not a zeal for good works. Their religion is not a service of God, but rather a service of self. This is how the apostle James puts it himself in this very context, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?" (James 2:19,20) In other words, deeds, or good works, are evidence of a genuine experience of God's grace in the heart. "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:34) When the heart has been ravished by the beauty of Christ, how else can it respond? Jonathan Edwards

Religious but lost is what I was then.
Broken and bleeding, my sin did offend:
The Almighty God, Creator of life,
In mercy procured the True Sacrifice.

In love beyond measure, God poured out His wrath
On my Sheppard who comforts with rod and His staff.
By sending His Son who did perfectly live,
I cannot but help it, to Him glory give.

Though in my past I brought only contempt,
Through His Sovereign mercy He made me exempt
From wrath which abides on all that not cleave
To Christ Jesus only and in Him believe.

Through grace He invaded my poor stubborn heart,
Injecting the faith that was not on my part.
“Forgive”, He did cry from that cruel Roman cross.
My reproach and my shame is now all my loss.

Though now my sins still cause me to falter,
Christ is my Treasure, and He Is the Alter
Upon which the glory of God now doth shine
And which He now tells me that Jesus is mine.

So now as a part of His body on earth
Every day we will spend now to show forth His worth
Until through the grave or called up with a shout
All praise will go to Him, of this there’s no doubt.

Till then, by His patience, let’s look to progress
In righteousness, godliness, true holiness.
Rejoicing in Jesus who paid our great dept,
And live in the promise, He’s not finished yet.

For all that God spoke, He will surely fulfill,
Conforming us to Him, by His Sovereign will.
And all will be seen, He did place in our heart
Manifesting His glory revealed now in part.

The initial lines of this poem were written in North Carolina nearly a year ago after reading Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The scrap piece of paper which also included a partial grocery list from that time had been pinned to a cork board staring at me for months.
A few days ago Dianna and I had stopped at the bread store to pick up a few items and then she asked about going across the street to look for some fabric at a Thrift Store. It was fifty percent off day, and while inside she noticed a six piece desk unit marked $129.99.

Knowing our current financial situation we walked out of the store committing the possible purchase to the Lord and went back to the house. We found through the internet that same unit sold for around $2,000.00 brand new. Thus we returned knowing it could be gone, but as the Lord would have it, it was still there. With the 50% off, we paid the $70.67 total purchase price and while we were taking it out of the store a woman that was looking for furniture asked if one of the pieces belonged to the unit. Upon our response to the affirmative, the man that was with her said, “good buy!” God not only blessed us in this temporal way with the furniture but used the occasion to further reveal to each of us His kindness in giving us to each other by the manner in which He worked in us as we responded to each other.



And so you may ask, “What does that have to do with the poem?” With the unit being so large, it called for a massive rearrangement to the room in which it is placed. The partially written poem was moved from the wall to eye level on the unit. As a means of simplifying, my intent was to type what was written on the computer to make room for other things on the cork board. The first, second and fourth stanzas were written previously with the rest having been written on this day. What a delight it is to know that though we have need of massive rearrangements in our hearts and minds before we get to glory, our Father delights in mercy, bringing things to view that are not yet finished, and is continually at work conforming us to the beauty of Christ-likeness.