Daily devotion – going forward..always!
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Once we have received Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we realize so clearly that now our lives are on a planned journey. Earth is not our home, life is the climb but not the summit!
You and I are saved to become like Jesus Christ – to live with Him every day, to learn to know Him as a husband learns to know his wife, to be aware of Christ’s life formed in us. You and I have been saved to share His reproach in the world, to each live by the principle of the Cross, dying daily to all but His will and glory for our lives.
We are saved also to be a blessing to the world – how marvellous that can be to us who once thought the world would be better off without us. But the impact of your and my life upon a fallen world depends entirely upon the impact the Holy Spirit makes on us!
We can have no apostleship – being sent out – without discipleship. Until we learn to live WITH Christ, we cannot effectively live FOR Him.
So, whatever we do in this life – whether we teach in a school, care for a home, serve the Lord in a Church or on a mission field – these are merely the externals.
Whether we are active or housebound, called to evangelize a city or to keep accounts, these are all secondary!
Our occupations are scaffolding around our lives, which sometimes God has to remove until first He has conquered the core of our being, eliciting our love, worship, and conformity to Him.
Today, is this the summit which you are aiming, the outcome you keenly long for? It was to Paul, the once proud Pharisee, who longed to gain the reverence, meekness and dignity of His Saviour Jesus Christ, which is the peak of the Christian experience.
You have made a start, what is the next step? We each have not arrived at our destination as yet. Paul too knew that in his own life. Paul urges us on one very important point on which we will close today’s devotion. There may be many dangers and pitfalls, but God always urges us to “go forward”.
It’s not the pace of the race but the length of the race that often proves too much. Paul looked only at the path before him and the “one thing” toward which he strained with heart pounding and feet racing, because his over mastering passion was to get there as quickly as possible.
We are not to look back – we will never win the race this way – let us forget what lies behind:
– Forget past sins – because God forgives them
– Forget past failures – for Satan raise them up to discourage
– Forget past blessings – they may encourage, but they can cause us to live in the past
– Forget past success – lest we rest on our oars
Today, tomorrow and this week – let us be going forward!