Paul had a big heart for the Lord. He left and forsook all to follow the Lord. He knew the secret to living that life. He knew he had to give all to live for Him. Paul already knew Christ in salvation. But he wanted to know Him in a deeper way. He wanted to know Him in the power of the resurrection.
John 10:18 "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." This speaks of power!! He had the power to lay His life down and He also had the power to take it up. We are weak in Christ. It takes Him to live from day to day.
Ephesians 1:19 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." The same power that raised Christ is the same power that is available to us through Him. Sin no longer as power over us. We can live in victorious power and also be afflicted and suffer. Paul was willing to suffer.
II Corinthians 1:5 "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." Jesus is our consolation and our comfort as we go through our affliction. Those who make the decision to glorify God in their suffering WILL be made stronger. We should rejoice in our suffering. That's right...I said we should rejoice in our suffering. Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." He does not say rejoice just once either....he says it twice. Does it say to always rejoice EXCEPT in our suffering? No...it says to rejoice alway. Alway means at all times...even in our times of suffering.
Jesus the best example we have to follow but He also gives us another great example in Paul. Paul's desire was to be godly. He was dedicated to that desire. Paul knew he was a wretched man yet he did not let that stop him or keep him from following Christ and striving to be what He wanted him to be.
Philippians 3:13 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before," We need to not let our failures beat us down. The devil wants us to remember and focus on those failures. He will try to tell us we cannot serve God because of them. We need to forget about our past...God has. We need to continually reach and strive for the future and what God wants for us.
Verse 14 "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Press means to pursue. We are to pursue a goal. Our goal is to be a prize for our Heavenly Father. God wants us to live up to that high calling that He has for us. The goal is to be like Christ.
10 comments:
It is truly amazing to think that God doesn't see our past sin! Thank you for the reminder to just press on.
Sis. Leah...It sure doesn't hurt to be reminded does it?
Great post! That is one of my favourite passages that shows where our focus should be in our walks with the Lord. Learn from the past, but don't live there; look forward to the future and what the Lord has planned for us; live faithfully for Him today.
I just wanted to say thanks for posting your thoughts on this passage of Scripture today. I am not working today but I am scheduled to do the lunch devotion in 2 hours. Your post reminded me of something I have been wanting to cover for a long time. There are four words used to describe our calling in the New Testament:
1) The Hope Of Your Calling - Ephesians 1:18; 4:4
2) The High Calling - Philippians 3:14
3) The Holy Calling - 2 Timothy 1:9
4) The Heavenly Calling - Hebrews 3:1
I may not cover them in that exact order. I have about 2 hours to work the message out (Lord willing, will put it up on my blog this afternoon). Then to cap it off, I would go to this verse (2 Peter 1:10) as an exhortation for those listening to make sure of their calling (ie. be sure they are saved).
If you read this in the next two hours, please pray that the Lord would give me wisdom and the clients at the Mission would be attentative to God's Word. Thank you. I have to look up some definitions and do a bit of studying while I am getting ready to head down there.
Bro. Jerry...Amen!!
Bro. Jerry...I will pray for you!! I try to pray for you daily. And when I pray for you I ALWAYS pray for you as you minister at the mission. You are such a blessing to me and I appreciate you as a friend and a brother in Christ. I look forward to reading your post that goes along with my post.
May the Lord bless you abundantly at the Mission!!
Here is the first part: The Hope Of Your Calling. I just finished preaching it. It went well - full house for dinner, so I am hoping some lives are changed through learning more of who we are and what we have in Christ.
P.S. Thanks for your encouragement and interest in this study. It is a source of strength to know that other believers are excited about digging together into the Word of God.
Bro. Jerry...Thank you for sharing it. I look forward to reading it a little later.
Sis Julie, I just posted the second in my series - this was the one from the same passage you covered here: The High Calling
Thank you for giving me some ideas, that led to a wonderful series at the Mission.
Bro. Jerry...Thanks for letting me know about your second post on that. I'm going over to check it out right now.
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