July 26, 2016 PRESSING ON
Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
When you read the writings of Paul, and other New Testament writers, you discover that what they penned flowed out of a passion to spread the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. These writers had encountered God in such a way that all that really mattered was fulfilling the purposes of God in and through their lives. Because Paul had had such a life changing encounter with God on the road to Damascus and had been called to be an Apostle, one would think that Paul had “arrived” spiritually. Yet, Paul knew that he could spend his lifetime discovering just how great and awesome, how wonderful, how all-consuming was the God that had called him out of darkness into His marvelous light; and Paul also knew that those who diligently pursued God would be rewarded both in this life and the one to come. Today, it seems that many believers have resigned themselves to living in a complacent mode, or a spectator mode, rather than pressing on toward the goal of discovering more of God and His purposes and experiencing God on a daily basis. We live in a day when passion, drive, tenacity, commitment, and vision are becoming rare qualities. The truth is that we cannot just manufacture or “work up” these qualities; these qualities are by-products of the passion that comes from encountering God and having a vibrant relationship with Him. We may encounter God in many different ways, but what puts us on the path to encountering God is having a heart that desires to know God above everything else-this is THE critical issue for each of us. Jesus makes it clear that only those who seek Him will find Him. Not seeking Him first simply says that our hearts are not wholly His, and that we have other priorities. In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. God is looking, and He is looking for those who have a heart to know Him. If and when we find found ourselves not pressing on to know God in greater ways, then let us confess that to God, stir up our hearts to hunger for God and ask God to change our heart in such a way that desiring to know Him in ever increasing ways becomes our passion. We do have the choice and the opportunity to set our hearts toward knowing God; our heart is to be ruled by the Spirit of God within us. Today, may we press on “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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