Monday, April 28, 2014
One Reason To Keep Going
Today looking out my window the snow is gone and in its place is a gray and rainy day. It would be easy to be discouraged today, to get caught up in the dreariness, to be overwhelmed by all that must be done in the days and weeks ahead, or by the news. We all want the world and life to be better. But we need not be overwhelmed. We can find peace and encouragement in knowing who and where we are, and where we are going. This is what Paul did in similar situations.
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example.
Paul had already seen and done some fairly significant things for God’s kingdom by the time he wrote this letter. He was also the same person that said he did things he should not do and did not do things he should do. But all of this he considered to be nothing. Paul always put the past where it belongs – in the past. He knew that what mattered was not what we have or have not done, but what we choose to do today to move toward God’s calling in our lives. When we focus on the immediate and ling term future, we get to create that anew. And here is an important point that I had not noticed before today. Paul said that from our maturity (perfect) we can put the past behind us and if there is something more we need to be doing, God will reveal it to us. If we know someone that has already overcome something, then we can imitate them (mark them) to learn from their example.
We press on…
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You! Everyday You give us a reason to keep going, to stay in the battle, and to reach out to Your calling. Thank You for giving us a goal. Please forgive us our past transgressions, and help us to keep our eyes on the prize. We want to see and live in Your kingdom in this earth. Please give us the healing, the deliverance, and the provision we need in abundance. Please help us to heal the sick, raise the dead, and show the world the power of Your might. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.