Skip to main content

IBS 45 - Philippins 3:12-13

Philippians 3:12-13
“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.”

Press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. “Fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Timothy 6:12).  He fought for me, chased after me, suffered for me, and died for me. He did it first, and now it’s my turn to fight for Him, chase after Him, suffer for Him, and die to myself for Him. Paul says to “Be imitators of me”, for he imitates Christ. (1 Corinthians 4:16). I need to follow after Him, do all I can for Him. I need to press on and take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. He took hold of me first, and now I’ll take hold of Him. 
The fact that Paul says He hasn’t taken hold of it yet shows that it’s not a super easy task to accomplish. But he’s striving to get there, therefore so will I. He does say, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” That’s hard for me to do. It’s really easy for me to go off in my thoughts remembering things from the past; funny stories, crazy things that happened, or whatever it might be. I get distracted by the past forgetting things are taking place in the present. If I’m always living in the past, then I’m not living. 
Strain toward what is ahead. Paul isn’t saying to always be focused on the future. That’s also very easy for me to do. To think about what my future will look like is exciting, and then I get lost in those thoughts. Once again, I get distracted, this time about the future, forgetting things are taking place in the present. So, Paul isn’t telling me to strain toward my future always thinking about it, but strain toward what is ahead. The Kingdom of God. Drawing people closer to Him. Keeping focus on Him. Doing what He’s called me to do. Strain towards that. Pleasing God, glorifying God, worshiping God, submitting to God, following God. Paul’s saying to me to forget my old ways, I’ve been made new in Christ. Chase after Him, straining towards Heaven, the righteousness of God. Keep the distractions at bay and God in the center. 

Application: I’ll draw an arrow on my arm as a reminder to keep looking forward and whenever I see it I’ll pray that God will keep me focused on Him and what He has for me. Vanessa will keep me accountable. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IBS 41 - Philippians 3:8

Philippians 3:8 “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Losing all things to gain Christ, considering them garbage. That’s intense. That’s hard to do. It takes a lot of faith and trust to get to that point. It’s one step at a time. Growing up, I’d here this verse. “You have to get rid of everything to have Christ.” That scared me, I didn’t want to get rid of my baby dolls and nail polish. As I got older, I learned the deeper truth to this verse. It’s not just giving up items, it’s giving up bad habits, your wants, your rights. It’s giving it all to God to know Him better.  When God told me to do Potter’s Field, I said no. I didn’t want to give anything up. I wanted to keep control, doing what I wanted to do, following my own dreams, holding on to earthly possessions. As God worked on my heart, it got harder to say no....
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 54 - 2 Timothy 2:2

2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” Entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. I desire to be someone who can be entrusted. I want people to know they can come to me with anything and trust me. There are always those people who you know you can’t trust with anything. I used to be one of those people. It might not have been that people knew they couldn’t trust me. But I knew they couldn’t. Whatever they told me, I’d go and tell my friends. I wasn’t someone who trustworthy or reliable.  I’ve changed though, thankfully. I’ve learned to be trustworthy. I’ve learned it’s better to have people trust you then not. I’ve learned the hurt and experienced the discipline of not being trustworthy. My eyes have been opened to the damage it causes when someone comes to me wanting to trust me and rely on me, and I turn around and gossip ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 70 - PSALM 51:8

Psalm 51:8 “Let me hear joy and gladness: let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” For a couple of years, people have talked to me about getting broken by God. About what it means for God to crush me. They’ve shared their stories of God breaking them and it always impacted me. Especially because they were so joyful, bringing praise to God so easily. I craved to have that type of joy and to be able to praise God the way they did. But I never wanted to go through the process of being broken. It’s a painful process that I didn’t want to have to endure. I said I wanted God to change me, but I wasn’t completely willing to change and to let Him break me. I didn’t want to surrender, and it became hard for me to praise God. I realized that my relationship with Christ wasn’t what it needed to be, but I wasn’t willing to let God do His work in me. My spirit craved to be broken and to draw near to God, but my flesh refused and fought God so hard.  Through the years, God put people ...
Post a Comment
Read more