He who started a good work in you is faithful to complete it. — Philippians 1:6, PJVV
There are a lot of different translations of the Bible out in the world today spanning from different languages to English translations that emphasize different things like ease of reading or literal word for word translations. I don’t believe that God is limited to a specific translation when He’s trying to speak to His children.
You like many have probably never heard of PJVV. It’s a fairly recent translation and it only includes a few verses. It’s origin started roughly 30 years ago when a boy was born and given the name Peter J. Vall. This boy accepted Jesus and grew up into a man. One day that man was feeling a little down and God reminded him of a verse, “He who started a good work in you is faithful to complete it.” That verse was exactly what he needed to hear at that time: that God is faithful. Later that day that man heard from a friend who was feeling really down. The man told the friend the verse which God had given him and the friend started feeling better.
Later that evening the man searched scriptures and found Philippians 1:6 and it wasn’t exactly how he remembered, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is amazing! God used what was available to help comfort a friend and me by telling us what we needed to hear. I’ll be the first to say that my memory isn’t perfect (some may disagree with that even if it is true), there was still something there that God could use. Although the PJVV translation is not perfect, it still lines up with the rest of scripture.
If you’re feeling down and even if you aren’t, just remember that God is faithful. You never know when that’s just what you or someone around you needs to hear.
Originally posted January 8, 2010.