8/2/22, 11:37 AM Day 4: Work in progress — Salt&Light

40.DAY

Day 4: Work in progress

A LoveSingapore 40.Day prayer and fast devotional, following 2022's theme of To Live Is
Christ: A Journey Through the Book of Philippians.

LoveSingapore
// July 4, 2022, 12:01 am

Bible reading for 40.DAY 2022 |  Philippians 1:6

M
ichelangelo was chipping away at a block of marble one day. A little boy came in and
asked what he was carving. “A lion,” said the artist.

The boy couldn’t make heads or tails of the bulk of rock that stood before him. But he
came again another day and saw a magnificent lion standing where the stone had
been. “How did you know a lion was in there?” he wondered aloud.
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8/2/22, 11:37 AM Day 4: Work in progress — Salt&Light

God is a Master Sculptor. He sees the end of His work before He begins.

God is a Master Sculptor. He sees the end of His work before He begins.

Paul is absolutely persuaded that God will finish the work He started in His people. But not all at once,
as some translations put it. Paul didn’t say that God will suddenly finish His work in us “on” or “at” the
day of Christ.

“The Greek text speaks of God’s continual work: He who began a good work in you will go on completing
it until the day of Christ.”

Every day between this day and that day, God hacks away until everything that obscures the image of
Christ in us is cut off and discarded. Good riddance.

Paul too is a master sculptor with chisel in hand. He sees the Philippians for what God will make of them.
But he has no illusions. Only a foolish sculptor would leave a block of stone uncut because he already
sees the lion inside.

Paul is no fool. There are some serious problems in the Philippian Church, as we shall see. Paul does not
turn a blind eye or make excuses for them, as we sometimes do with those under our care. That’s not
love. That’s sloppy agape.

Even though he is convinced that God will finish His work in his readers, Paul knows the part that he
must play. And he loves them too much to leave them as they are. His pen is his chisel. He doesn’t miss a
stroke.

Nor does he forget that the Philippians also have an essential part to play, as all of us do. God will go on
perfecting His work in us, but not unilaterally. Not without our consent and cooperation.

We must allow the day of Christ to determine how we live today and every
day.

We also have work to do on ourselves. Paul and the Church Fathers know of no salvation apart from
moral, ethical, and spiritual transformation in this life (Gordon Fee).

Don’t wait till the tribulation or the rapture to get your act together. We must allow the day of Christ to
determine how we live today and every day until that day. It is in this sense that “today is the day of
salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Each and every day presents us with fresh opportunities to “work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Where is your chisel?

Pray Now
1 How do you see the Singapore Church? Awake and alive to God and His purpose? Or in the doldrums,
stagnated and stuck? Is she in decline, ageing, losing her influence, and waning in her mission?
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8/2/22, 11:37 AM Day 4: Work in progress — Salt&Light
Regardless how you see her, acknowledge that the Singapore Church is God’s glorious work of grace
in progress. Confess with confidence that, as long as we let Him, God will never stop working “in” us to
transform us from the inside out – so that He can work “through” us to transform the world around us.

2 How do you see your church? If the report card is encouraging and your church is thriving, blessed are
you. But don’t self-congratulate. Stay sober. Be humble. Acknowledge God’s hand. Praise Him for every
sign of transformation in and through your church. Ask God:

○ to protect her from the temptation to rest on her laurels

○ to keep hacking out everything that hinders obedience and obscures the image of Christ
○ for eyes to see the future. The greater things still to come. The greater works yet to be done.

Pray for divine discontent. Believe for the immeasurably more He has in store for your church, for
Singapore, and for the nations — yes, through your church!     

Ask God for eyes to see what He is doing invisibly, and what He is calling
you to do visibly.

3 How do you see your church? If the report card is discouraging and you think the heyday is passed,
pray the truth: It’s not over until God says it’s over! Where has your church wavered and veered off
course? Ask God for eyes to see what He is doing invisibly, and what He is calling you to do visibly.
Yearn for revival and restoration: “Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). Put
your confidence in God who birthed your church. Dare to believe that “the latter glory of this house shall
be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord
of hosts” (Haggai 2:9). 

4 How do you see your church? If the report card is disturbing and the situation seems impossible, resist
despair and defeatism. Pray and trust God to awaken your church. Pray that she will return to her first
love and respond to Jesus’ invitation: “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you
did at first” (Revelation 2:5). Pray for eyes of faith to see your church for what God will make of her.
Look far: Where dreams have been dashed, ask God to download His vision, resurrect hope, and instill
faith. Where bones lay scattered and dry, pray for a new Pentecost. Fresh breath from heaven! Speak life,
speak new beginnings over your church:

○ Sound Word
○ True Worship
○ Strong Witness  
○ Good Works  
○ Warm Welcome  
○ Fresh Wonder  

“For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Confess with confidence: God has a plan and a
future for my church. He who began the good work of salvation and sanctification in my church will
continue perfecting His precious work until the day of Christ. Amen.

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8/2/22, 11:37 AM Day 4: Work in progress — Salt&Light

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August 8, 2022.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LoveSingapore

Founded in 1995, LoveSingapore is a unity movement

motivated by love, fuelled by prayer, and inspired by a
common vision: God's greatest glory seen through a life
changed, a church revived, a nation transformed, and a
world evangelised.

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