July 20, 2017 PRESSING ON
Hosea 6:3: “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.”
Philippians 3:12-13: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay 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.”
Martin Lloyd-Jones once said “Our supreme need is to know God.” As you read the writings of Paul in the New Testament, you readily see that it was his passion to know God and to know and fulfill the purposes God had for him. Some may question the idea of a human being being able to know God. But God has chosen to make it possible for us to know Him; God wants to be known by His people. In the Old Covenant, God revealed Himself through the prophets; in the New Covenant, Jesus spent three years teaching and demonstrating the Kingdom of God, and after His resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit was given to believers that they might continually experience His presence. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the Father, and the receiving of the Spirit is the beginning of our coming to know the Lord, but then we spend a life time of pressing on to know Him more fully. The greatness of God transcends our mental capacity to comprehend and our imaginations cannot capture just how great He is. There are things about God that we do not know or understand, but it is through faith that we believe. However, God has revealed much of Himself to those who believe, and Ephesians 1:9 tells us that He has made known to us His will. The challenge to us is to ‘press on’ to know the Lord more fully; the more we know Him, the more we want to know Him. The challenge to coast spiritually and to remain in our present condition is ever present. Pressing on to know the Lord starts in our heart with a desire to know Him. If it is indeed our desire to know Him more fully, then that desire will be manifest in our life. Pressing on to know the Lord would involve searching the scriptures, obeying or applying the scriptures, being involved with and having fellowship with other believers, praying to the Father and listening to His voice and learning and doing the things that please Him. The Christian faith demands action-not in order to earn God’s approval, but because we are sons and daughters of God being transformed into His image. Let us take to heart the words of Hosea and Paul and let us press on to know the Lord.
John 14:21: “He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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