"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."~ Philippians 3:12-14
If yesterday was about casting... off, today is about pressing on. A bit of Percy; Good old Percy Verance . A bit of past shunning, eyes-on-the-prize grit and determination.
Now, no bit of our character development in Christ is independent from God's grace. But you don't have to think very hard about this before you realise, that without that bit of spit, without your own sheer determination and bloody-mindedness this is not going to happen.
And the past, both glory and failure, pleasure and pain, are just that. The past. Before us is Christ, our prize. So forget the past. Strain with all your might, yes your might (With which you are to love the Lord your God with all of) and make the upward call of God in Christ, your absolute obsession and passion. The promised land lies before us, and in it, all the ground he has given us for the taking.
Incidentally, the 'All of this' that Paul has not yet attained, is that he may gain Christ, and be found in him, having his righteousness and "to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
By the grace of God, by the power of the spirit that works in us, let us press on and push on through, sold out, heaven-bent on the saviour, For the glory of Christ Jesus. Amen.
And the past, both glory and failure, pleasure and pain, are just that. The past. Before us is Christ, our prize. So forget the past. Strain with all your might, yes your might (With which you are to love the Lord your God with all of) and make the upward call of God in Christ, your absolute obsession and passion. The promised land lies before us, and in it, all the ground he has given us for the taking.
Incidentally, the 'All of this' that Paul has not yet attained, is that he may gain Christ, and be found in him, having his righteousness and "to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
By the grace of God, by the power of the spirit that works in us, let us press on and push on through, sold out, heaven-bent on the saviour, For the glory of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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