'It is finished!' - often we see and hear this climax of our Easter Drama but what does that 1 phrase mean?

Max Lucado puts it so nicely in the bk - No Wonder they call Him Savior

it's times when we entertain tots of quitting - as a cgl, often that tot of giving up wld go across our minds, the other day i talked to Euzanne and she said all of us do, prob even pst too! But then everytime i think of it, then i think again and then I say 'nah.....dont wanna quit'

The fighter still remains

It is a rare breed to finish what we started.

If not there wouldnt be a verse that says 2 Tim 4:7-8

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Hang in there
Finish
Stick to it until it is done

Our human tendency is to quit too soon
Our human tendenc is to stop b4 we cross the finish line

I think when we read 2 Tim - we got to look at the context of where Paul was when he wrote to Timothy

Paul was in prison (1:8), and had experienced a mass desertion by his associates and supporters from Asia (1:15). Onesiphorus, however, possibly from Asia, was one of the few who helped Paul in Rome; he traveled to Rome for this very reason. Most of Paul's colleagues were not with him. Only Luke had stayed with Paul (4:9-16). A certain Alexander the metalworker gave Paul a hard time in Rome; it is not clear whether Alexander was a believer or not (4:14-15). At his first defense, no one came to Paul's support (4:16). In general, Paul was having a tough time of it in Rome.

This explains why Paul experienced a mass desertion: his associates were fleeing a dangerous political situation. The date of the composition of 2 Timothy was during Nero's persecution of the church, c. 64-68.

In modern context is almost as if you were living in the times of the Holocaust and you were a jew on trial.

Yet in the midst of it all - Paul says - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith

Paul must have thought of Jesus on the cross when he was in prison and said 'Jesus on the cross, was tempted to get off the cross, not take the pain, scorn, God the father turning his face away, take the convenient route out, but he didnt and I shouldnt too.'

Now its Mid Apr and we just finished Apr - im believing for a strong base in e417, sometimes we go thru a time of preparation of the hearts of the ppl and we wonder 'hey where are we going' but i sensed in my heart at the beg of the year, God said 'prepare the ppl, help them to become more consecrated to me, help them deepen their relationship w me, get them 2 pray!'

Every CG, we r praying specific prayers for each other, for every friend - surely Lord, what we have sown, u are preparing us for the harvest

Even as Jon & Xena go to SOT, i know its also a time of preparation and molding too!

Tune from an old song that I used to sing in Sunday school:
'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, the good that the lord has prepared for those who wait on Him to hear his voice, I am the potter and you are clay. So Jesus Jesus take me in your hand and make me all you want me to be. So Jesus help me understand your purpose and what you can do through me, fulfilling my destiny.'

We have May, Jun, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec - 8 mths to complete God's work through e417.He has a plan, he has a goal so we need to finish, stay in faith till the end.

The end is always better than the beginning.

A finisher is not one with no wounds or weariness but the LAND OF PROMISE awaits those who endure till the end.

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are yet to be done in this city...

Let us not be weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.