October 21, 2025 NEVER STOP
Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul had a goal he was relentlessly pursuing and that goal was the ‘prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ God chose Paul to be one who would have a major role in proclaiming the gospel and God equipped him by revealing to him a clear understanding of the gospel of God. The central message and the message that was essential to understand was that by the work of God, believers were in Christ and Christ was in them and He was and is their life. Paul knew that genuine, abundant life was found only in this union with Christ; any ‘life’ outside of this union was not life as God designed. The mystery is that a believer can come to discover that life is in Christ, but it’s also an ongoing process. With our limited human minds we cannot fully grasp what it means to be in Christ; discovering life in Christ is a life-time process-and we will fully understand it only when He comes again and gathers us unto Himself. To pursue the goal of the upward call of God, we must forget what lies behind; the mistakes, the sins, the successes, and the heart aches; and we must focus on and move toward gaining greater insight of what it means to be in Christ. Being in Christ and receiving the truth of the gospel impacts every aspect of our lives here on earth. To be in Christ means that we have died to ourselves-that’s the part many miss. When we live for ourselves, trying to work God into our life, we fail to live as God designed. Dying to self is a matter of laying my desires and my ways aside and pursuing and following the ways of God that is made known to us by the Holy Spirit. For example; if my way is to speak words that tear down and criticize, I must lay that aside and speak words that build up and edify. The good news is that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to lay aside what we should and the power to put on Christ; another way of saying that is that we have the power to walk according to the Spirit instead of walking according to the flesh. So, let us have the same goal as Paul had and spend our days pressing on to the things of God. Pressing on the the things of God does not negate fulfilling our responsibilities of life on this earth. When we experience life in Christ, our deepest longings are fulfilled and we experience abundant life. Dying to our ways and having Christ live His life in us is the best thing that could ever happen to us in this life.
1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Blessings, Buddy
Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul had a goal he was relentlessly pursuing and that goal was the ‘prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ God chose Paul to be one who would have a major role in proclaiming the gospel and God equipped him by revealing to him a clear understanding of the gospel of God. The central message and the message that was essential to understand was that by the work of God, believers were in Christ and Christ was in them and He was and is their life. Paul knew that genuine, abundant life was found only in this union with Christ; any ‘life’ outside of this union was not life as God designed. The mystery is that a believer can come to discover that life is in Christ, but it’s also an ongoing process. With our limited human minds we cannot fully grasp what it means to be in Christ; discovering life in Christ is a life-time process-and we will fully understand it only when He comes again and gathers us unto Himself. To pursue the goal of the upward call of God, we must forget what lies behind; the mistakes, the sins, the successes, and the heart aches; and we must focus on and move toward gaining greater insight of what it means to be in Christ. Being in Christ and receiving the truth of the gospel impacts every aspect of our lives here on earth. To be in Christ means that we have died to ourselves-that’s the part many miss. When we live for ourselves, trying to work God into our life, we fail to live as God designed. Dying to self is a matter of laying my desires and my ways aside and pursuing and following the ways of God that is made known to us by the Holy Spirit. For example; if my way is to speak words that tear down and criticize, I must lay that aside and speak words that build up and edify. The good news is that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to lay aside what we should and the power to put on Christ; another way of saying that is that we have the power to walk according to the Spirit instead of walking according to the flesh. So, let us have the same goal as Paul had and spend our days pressing on to the things of God. Pressing on the the things of God does not negate fulfilling our responsibilities of life on this earth. When we experience life in Christ, our deepest longings are fulfilled and we experience abundant life. Dying to our ways and having Christ live His life in us is the best thing that could ever happen to us in this life.
1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Blessings, Buddy
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