It is Finished

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:28-30  

Jesus Last Words from the Cross. It is finished. He was the worker—approved by His Heavenly Father. He did what He came to do—and it was over. Job completed. He had diligently responded to all that His Father had asked Him to do—and now it was over. Are we like Jesus in completing tasks that are given to us? Do we finish what we start? As a child and teenager I was active in 4-H. One of their mottos is “Finish What You Start.” That was very important. The timeframe for projects may have been nine or ten months long—the whole school year, so it was easy to put things off until the last minute and then have to rush to complete the projects in time for the county fair. Jesus didn’t have to rush to complete His Father’s mission. He did spend a lot of time in prayer. Maybe if I’d prayed about my 4-H projects I wouldn’t have been so rushed to complete them. Where do you stand with God? Do you have spiritual goals and projects that you are doing? If not, why not consider a spiritual goal for yourself for the next few months. Can you challenge yourself to have one month of personal daily devotions, or read a Book of the Bible every week? How about attending or starting a Bible study with friends or family? You choose your own spiritual goal and go for it! 

Training Tip – As you set a spiritual goal for yourself, challenge your children to have a spiritual goal too. For them it could be reading a Book of the Bible, memorizing scripture, or telling a friend about what Jesus has done in their life. 

It is finished—the Lord has helped my husband and me to finish a great backyard project. It was a physical and spiritual accomplishment. We laid heavy flagstones into a patio, and God allowed us to complete the project without injuries—that was a prayer request every day that we worked on that patio. It is finished! 

Lord God, Thank You for Your plan and for willingly giving up Your Son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was a diligent worker—serving not only You Heavenly Father—but all of us who know Him as Savior.

Friday’s Feast at the Lord’s Table

Last Sunday a dear Christian man, Tom Harves, went home to be with the Lord. I’m sure he’s had a heavenly meal with the Lord! As a tribute to his family—here is a cookie they all love. Comfort food. 

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract and almond extract. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool just enough for the chocolate to set. Serve with a large glass of milk and enjoy!

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.