Finishing Strong

FINISHING STRONG!

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.”
(Psalm 71:18 NKJV)

I couldn't help think of our dear friend Bobby Michaels when I read today's devotional in our America's KESWICK publication, REAL VICTORY FOR REAL LIFE. Bobby finished well. Pray for his wife Lee, and his kids, Rachel and Jeff today during the Memorial Service.

Every life is a life of influence for good or for evil. The prayer of the Psalmist in this passage is a prayer to influence future generations for time and eternity. He cries out to God for the opportunity to influence, “…everyone who is to come” by his talk and his walk. His talk is described in verse 15, “My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits.” However, our talk is only effective as it is supported by our walk. The psalmist describes this in verse 16, I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of your righteousness, of Yours only. Our key verse above reveals that the psalmist understood that He could not live in this way except by the work of the Lord in his life.

So often we make life and salvation about us when it is all about God. Our life is to be swallowed up in the truth that our whole purpose is to bring glory to Him. Finishing strong in the Christian life is extremely important if we are to leave the proper legacy.

“Artful Eddy” was the overseer of mobster Al Capone’s dog tracks and a crooked lawyer during the 1920’s. He had all of what the world considers to be important – wealth, position, possessions, and class. Yet he chose to turn himself in to federal officials and testify against his partners in crime, knowing that it would probably mean the end of his life. When asked why he would do this he revealed that he didn’t desire to see his son follow in his footsteps. He was gunned down in the street a short time later.

What happened to Artful Eddy’s son? Appointed to Annapolis and commissioned as a Navy pilot during WWII he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor after single handedly shooting down five enemy bombers saving hundreds of lives. You see, Artful Eddy’s last name was O’Hare – the name of Chicago’s airport which honors the memory of his son, Butch.
A true life of overcoming will finish strong! May our prayer be that of the Psalmist in this passage. -- Rev. Joe Olachea is Senior Pastor of Lakes Community Chapel in Medford, NJ and a friend of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 14; 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12:32-59

Great Quote: Don't measure God's mind by your own. It would be a poor love that depended not on itself, but on the feelings of the person loved. A crying baby turns away from its mother's breast, but she does not put it away till it stops crying. She holds it closer. For my part, in the worst mood I am ever in, when I don't feel I love God at all, I just look up to His love. I say to Him, "Look at me. See what state I am in.Help me!" Ah! you would wonder how that makes peace. And the love comes of itself; sometimes so strong, it nearly breaks my heart.George Macdonald