What Is Keeping Me From The "Finished?"

Jesus Said It, I Believe and Know It!

John 19:28–30“28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

Finished = To Finish; To complete a predetermined goal; to initiate, to implement and accomplish a perfect plan

In order to Finish, you must first have a goal, not only that, you must start John 1:1–3“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

Too often we tend to be timid about beginning anything; God is The Master Planner, and He sees the ending at the same time of the beginning, thus He implemented The Master Plan of Salvation (Deliverance). The Gospel let us know that The Work God initiated, has been completed John 17:4 “4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

So if it is “Finished” and I am still toiling, trudging, working - am I operating in The Finished Work? Am I adding more to me, which may signify that I don’t fully Trust in The Cross?

Rest

(Be at peace, lie down, cease from doing, what is left behind, celebrate)

Genesis 2:2 “2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”

I am guilty of this, but too often we are trying to do too much, too soon - maybe you need to rest and review what you have done, so that you can have a clearer vision for the next phase of the Plan?

Have you taken a moment to celebrate the small accomplishments? We have become so engulfed with instant gratification, we miss opportunities of refueling; thus, we lose power to move because we carry so much, and never unload or unplug!

Jeremiah 17:21 “21 Thus says the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;” Jeremiah 17:22 “22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.”

Can we at least on this day, lay everything else and just enjoy The Goodness of The Lord? Start at the house, saying I am entering into The Presence of God, empty - I have been toiling all week long and I need to hear what God has for me!

And if God rested, how much more do we need to?

(Unload at the house) Today is not the time for us to be weighed down with what has transpired this week; we are blessed to be here, so why not just rejoice and be glad? Psalm 119:111 “111 Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart.”

Heart Trouble

God forbid - If you ever have experienced any type of heart palpitations, anxiety attack, or afib - you know that when your heart is not beating correctly: your breathing is off, your ability to think straight is off, etc. . . Jeremiah 17:5 “5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.”

The heart is the seat of your intelligence, the very place where your decisions will come from - The Psalmist states that he has taking God’s Testimonies (Instructions) for a heritage forever, and knowing God’s Commandments are to increase him, comfort him, keep him, protect him (whatever you need God to be His Will be) his heart rejoices!

The reason our hearts are skipping beats (thinking) is because we allow the circumstances to cause us to become stiffed necked - Meaning, I hear what God has spoken, but it is difficult for me to turn to His Word because of what I see. . . Jeremiah 17:1 “1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars,”

Judah were so rebellious to stick with what they believe and not what God instructed them to become!

Too often, if not careful, you can miss an instruction intended for you because you think that you’ve arrived - It Is Finished, but you can’t stay there, you got to get up!

And because you have declared The Gospel Of The Lord, you have been illuminated by The Holy Spirit to guide you towards the Finished Work of Christ! And because your trust is not in man, nor my flesh is my strength, because my Trust Is In God, I Am Blessed - Jeremiah 17:7–8“7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

Now I can see clearly now - Jesus said “It Is Finished!” then gave up The Ghost, so that you and I can have The Comforter, Whom guides us into all truths! So now the things that I see, are not greater than Who I know - Jesus said that when they lift Him up, He will pull all unto Him - Notice now, He may have been on The Cross, but He was High and Lifted Up! They had to look up to Him - Regardless if their heart was turned to Him, they had to look up!

What looked like defeat - became Victory! 1 Corinthians 2:9 “9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.””

Do you love Him? Well then, what is keeping you from The Finished? What do you mean; The Finished! What is keeping you from knowing that all things are working together for The Good? What is keeping you from knowing that although I may have these momentary afflictions, they are light and not worthy to be compared - What is keeping you from knowing that because I trust Him, I am blessed and I can put my hand to it, knowing that it will prosper? I can go on and on - I realize that it was me, keeping me from The Finished Work in Christ Jesus! Jesus Did It!

Because The Holy Spirit has done heart ablation - He has burned a border in my thinking to block those signals. . .