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Pressing On Into the New Year

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We are supposed to be continually transformed into the image of Christ. It is a state we know we can never fully achieve because of the flesh we live in but it is what we are to aspire to. The world sells celebrities and sports stars as people to emulate and to "wish we were like them." As Christians however, it is Christ we are to try and emulate. It is Christ we are to press on to possess. Paul then make an important distinction that is often overlooked. He says that he presses on to possess the perfection for which Jesus first possessed him. There are two crucial points for us to consider. First of all, God saved us for a reason. He saved us because of His unfailing love and endless mercy but also for a reason. The second truth is that the reason really has to do with who we are not what we do. The missionary journeys were not why God saved Paul. The thousands upon thousands of people who came to Christ were not the reason. The fact that his writings would become the canon of Scripture was not the reason. These were all important and part of the overall plan of God but they were not the reason God got a hold of Paul on that Damascus Road. The reason is far more personal to Paul than that. It was to change Saul of Tarsus into the humble man Paul who now sits in a prison writing a letter to the Church at Philippi. Paul shows us here that Christ possessed him to perfect him. The missionary journeys, shipwrecks, and planted churches are all part of what God used to perfect him. God used these things for His glory and for Paul's perfection. The same goes for us today. We sometimes get confused and think that God saved us solely to do works. Our Christianity becomes external to us. It becomes impersonal. Consider Mary and Martha:

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed--or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."  - Luke 10: 41-42 (NIV)

This is why Mary has chosen the better thing while Martha is worried and upset. We too easily become Martha in our walk with God. We serve Him and love Him but it fails to change us. Instead of being in the process of being perfected we become immersed in the business of religion. Not that the business of religion is not important and if Christ centered serves the overall plan of God but it is not why God got a hold of us. He got a hold of us to perfect us and if we constantly find ourselves there we will serve the cause of Christ even more perfectly. 

Beside the humble pursuit of Christlike perfection we see the next point in the key verses is perhaps more revealing! There is a singular focus that Paul reveals as the secret for pressing on in Christ. If we were honest we would admit that our focus is often lacking in this world. We are bombarded every minute of every day with so much external stimuli that it is a miracle we all don't behave as a ferret on a double espresso. So what is the secret? Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead in Christ. Let's take these separately. There are far too many Christians stuck in their past. They are free in Christ, except for that thing that happened when they were 15. Problem is that now they are 40. I guarantee you this beloved - there is never anything you can do about changing your past. Even Jesus taught about this:

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  - Matthew 6: 27 (NLT)

The answer is no but worry sure can take moments away from our lives! The past is a grade level we are to learn from not get left back in. God has so much more for us if we would just be willing to live in the present with an eye towards the future. The devil likes to remind us of our past because he knows if we are living in our past then we cannot serve God in the present effectively. The next time the devil wants to remind you of your past you just remind him of his future! Do not fall for the solutions of this world beloved. They want us to cope with our problems and pain from our past. That means how to live with them. God doesn't want us living with our problems! He wants to take them from us so we can move on to the next level of Christlikeness awaiting us. A negative past is not the only danger Paul is speaking about however:

Don't long for "the good old days."   This is not wise.  - Ecclesiastes 7: 10 (NLT)

The devil also likes to get us living in the past through our own personal glories and accomplishments. Sometimes we fail the test of success easier than the test of failure. Paul could have rested on his laurels and all that he had accomplished but because he stayed humble, he always realized it was God who accomplished these things through him. We need more pastors and Christian leaders to realize this about their own past successes. It does not matter why we live in the past. We need to move on. 

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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