We all go through transitions in life, one door opens and another closes. That is Life. When one is in transition however, there is need to finish well, despite the circumstances.
Let us be reminded that -The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8 NIV
Join me in the prayer of Agreement asking God to help you finish well.
We all go through transitions in life, one door opens and another closes. That is Life. When one is in transition however, there is need to finish well, despite the circumstances.
Let us be reminded that -The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8 NIV
Join me in the prayer of Agreement asking God to help you finish well.
We all go through transitions in life, where we start a job and it ends, or where you transition from one end of a project to the very end. And there are times where there are doors that open and this door may be doors of opportunity that we delve in and some of these doors do come to an end and they close, and such is life. When one is in transition, however, there is need to finish well, despite the circumstances I have shared with you before that I did lose my job and I wasn't too sure how it was going to be, but I was faced with many emotions. But in the midst of all these emotions, the Lord then spoke to me and said the end of a matter is better than the beginning, mercy. And so I knew that that part was very important to the Lord, how I finished and transitioned out from my workplace to the next, first set of my life.
Speaker 1:
This is just but one area of your life. There are many areas that you may begin, be it a marriage that ends and divorce, be it a project that just ends, and suddenly you have nothing and you know that this is it. Be it work, be it the death of something or someone, be encouraged in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 8, which says, and I'll read from the NIV version the end of a matter is better than its beginning, the patience is better than pride. Let us be candid here. Marriage is not always the easiest, even if you know your job is ending, your contract is ending or is coming to an end, this marriage, this relationship, is coming to a tragic end. As human beings, we are faced with many emotions, and these emotions determine how we interact, how we respond to others. But today I want to encourage you to be aware of them. And why should you be aware of this? It is to know that the individual struggles you might be having to leave work or not to leave work, to leave a certain relationship, to let go of things that you have totally invested in will come and pass, and therefore it is important to finish well, the truth is, many a times we want to walk out of a place, insult people, make them know that I am the reason why the prosperity of this thing is, and sometimes we are also hurt and we lift up our hands and we say I can't take this anymore, and so you choose to exit, whatever the circumstance is.
Speaker 1:
And so clearly there is a term that says tender women, nender zacko. It means do well and move along. And even as I'm sharing this, there is a great sense of why shouldn't I do unto the fellow human person as they have done to me? Why should I hold back and not retaliate? Why shouldn't I insult or tell people off because of what they are doing to me? Matthew 5 and verse 38 to 40. You have heard that it is said I for I, tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
Speaker 1:
I know, sometimes it's very difficult to live out the word of God, but even as Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 8 says, the end of a matter is better than the beginning and patience is better than pride. It is best for us to put pride aside and to take on the garment of humility and finish well. The other reason why we ought to finish well is the unknown expectation about the future. Jeremiah 29 and verse 11 says it's God who has good thoughts and plans for you, plans not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future, and because you are rested in God, you know that your future will be bright. Just because this matter is ending now doesn't mean that it is the end of life.
Speaker 1:
And then, number three, it is a review of the path as we finish. Well, we ought to review wherever it is that we were at, and at that particular stage, that season of your life, did you make the right decisions? Did you do that which you were set out to do? Were there tasks that were left undone? Are there people that you heart along the path? It is time for you and I to take stock of our lives in that season and therefore, indeed, the end of the matter is better than the beginning. So why is it so? At a personal level, when you look back, it brings peace and happiness. To finish well, looking back just brings profound peace and happiness. Secondly, it's a mark of maturity and lifestyle of excellence. Finishing well is the mark of a true leader who desires continuity.
Speaker 1:
And number three, it could be the door of second chances. I guess you never know. When you leave a certain institution, a certain place, well, you could be called back in the future. Indeed, god could use the very door as a second chance. Therefore, it is always important to end well, to finish well.
Speaker 1:
So I want to make a prayer of agreement, first, beginning by repenting where we have not finished well, where we have gone through life hurting people and other people also hurting us, and so we've carried this grudge with us and we've walked away and just walked out of places with heart and forgiveness that today the Lord, god Almighty, he will allow you to lay this burden on the cross, you will receive forgiveness. And if there is anyone that you need to call or text or email, do so that you will extend asking them to forgive you, because Holy Spirit will always remind us in our journey whom we have hurt and who has hurt us, so that we may seek forgiveness and that we may release and forgive others, because it doesn't benefit anyone walking with this burden in life. And then, secondly, in our area and facets of life, we shall ask God to help us to finish well. Be it that you're currently in a state of transition, lord, help me to finish well. Are you planning to transition? Lord, help me to finish well. Also, that God will inculcate the desire to finish well in your life that, even if you're walking through any transitionary journey doors of your life that you will remember to finish well. So let us pray, our Lord and our God, we thank you. We thank you because we know that you are our Lord and our God. We thank you, holy Spirit, because you are the one who always reminds us that the end of a month is better than the beginning. We thank you, o Lord, god Almighty, because you desire for us to finish well.
Speaker 1:
Father, we want to bring a repentance today, because your what says? If anyone has seen has not seen them, they claim to be liars. And so today we just want to say that we have seen and fallen short of thy glory and that in our lives, as we've interacted with people and moved and transitioned from one place to another, that we have seen. They are they that we have heart, they are they that have heart us. But today we are bringing all our burdens to the feet of Jesus at the cross and laying them there, and we are saying, god, we desire forgiveness, god Almighty, we desire that we release the ones that we have carried, who have hurt us, who have broken us, who have taken our money, our things, oh, god Almighty, and relate all on the altar and we are saying, father, we forgive them.
Speaker 1:
God Almighty, some of us may have said things to others, some of us may have hurt other people. Oh God and Father, we want to pray, oh God, that you will lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit to go out there and seek forgiveness for they that hurt us. And, father, today we are also saying we are sorry that we have hurt your people, oh God, along the path of Jehovah, father, they are they that provoked us to anger and in our weakest points we broke down and we said things, we did things that were disappointing and angry and hurtful towards our fellow believers, our fellow friends, our family members. And, father, we pray that you will lead us and cause us in repentance to today, to be able to release and to admit and to seek forgiveness, oh God, first from you, father, and then from fellow men. Father, god, we pray, oh Jehovah, father, that you will guide us, oh God, into all truth, that you will help us to be able to release everything at the cross and, in exchange for this, receive forgiveness. In exchange of all this release, receive forgiveness as we release everything.
Speaker 1:
Oh God and Father, we thank you for the finish, to walk off the cross. We thank you that are the cross, oh God, we are able to receive forgiveness, both for ourselves and also for our loved ones, oh God, even for the ones who hurt us, o Jehovah, and the ones that we hurt, father, we pray that indeed, oh God, you will help us to finish well. We are seeking you, oh God, to help us as we transition through life to finish and to finish well, because, indeed, your word says the end of a matter is better than the beginning. And, father, help us to always remember this, help me to always remember this, even as I walk through, oh God, life partnering with you and with others.
Speaker 1:
Oh God, that, indeed, mighty God, as things come to an end, that you're giving me the finishing grace. Indeed, father, continue to pour out your grace, the finishing grace, oh God, because you are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And so today, you're choosing, through partnership with the Holy Spirit, to pour out the Omega anointing, the Omega anointing which is the finishing anointing for us to be able to finish and to finish well. Father, we thank you because of your word, we thank you because of this great anointing. We receive it, oh God.
Speaker 1:
And we say that, father, help us, as we continue to transition through life, to be able to finish and to finish well, that, indeed, at the end of it, oh God, all glory and honor will go unto you.
Speaker 1:
Jehovah, we shall say it is not by my might or by my power, it is by your spirit that we take on the garment of patience and discard the garment of pride, taking on the garment of humility, discarding the garment of arrogance. Even as we interact with people, father, we know that it is not easy all the time, but, father, we pray, oh God, both now and forever, that the Omega anointing will go with us and before us to remind us at every given time that we ought to finish and to finish well. And even as we transition out of things, oh God, help us to leave a good mark and a mark that glorifies God. After all, indeed, because it is you we leave, we move and breathe and have our being. So, father, have your way in us and guide us, both now and forever. It is in Jesus' name we do pray and believe, amen.