BE YOUR BEST

 

BE YOUR BEST

Phil. 3:13-14 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. NLT

We need to be honest with ourselves. We need to admit that we are not yet all that we should be in Christ. No one has reached the point where he cannot be a better person in Him. The Lord is never done with us. We will never be finished projects while on earth.

Instead of focusing on who we might already be in Christ, we should focus on becoming more like Christ. It doesn’t matter how far we have come; it only matters how far we are yet going. We slow up our progress when we dwell on our past growth. All of our energies need to be put into reaching our goal, which is to finish well the race of life in Christ. Our goal should always be to be more holy today than we were yesterday. We should always put our best efforts into being faithful and true to our calling in Christ. We will be rewarded for our faithfulness, not our past achievements.

The more we let go of our past, the less trouble we will have moving forward. Whatever was in your past needs to stay there. Christ forgives us for our past and it is wiped from the memory of God. We would be wise to do the same. We are not who we were; we are who we are in Christ. Let us keep our eyes focused on our future in Christ and do our very best to become all that we can be in Christ.

We should take an honest look at ourselves and identify those areas where we need to continue to grow. We all have them. Ask the Lord to help you work on them. You can grow and become a better child of faith if you will let the Lord help you.

If you have a hard time identifying what you need to work on, ask a trusted friend to tell you. It may be awkward, but if he is a true friend, He will tell you in a loving way what you can do to be a better servant of the Lord. A true friend won’t judge you, he will lovingly encourage you as you grow in Christ.

And, if you are a true friend, you will return the favor. You will lovingly help another to know what they need to work on without being judgmental of them. No one has it altogether without areas to work on in their walk with the Lord.

It takes all the effort we can muster to stay true to Christ and grow in Him. Let us not slack off but work hard so that we will be ready when the Lord comes to call us home.

STRAIN TO GROW

 

STRAIN TO GROW

Phil. 3:12-14 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. NLT

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not where God wants you to be in Christ. You have some growing up to do yet. There are flaws in your character that the Lord needs to change. There are problems yet with the way you think about things. But guess what, the same thing is true of me and every other child of God. We will always come up short while we are living in the flesh. There is coming a day in which we will no longer need to grow and change, but now is not that time. Our response to this truth is to not give up trying. We must determine in our hearts to press on with all the effort we can muster to be better than we are today, with a clear vision of Christ before us.

Strain to grow. It is not an easy process. Growing in Christ takes much persistence, perseverance, and patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. The journey has many twists and turns, ups and downs. There are many victories along the way as well as battle scars. If it were easy, everyone who professes to be a child of God would become mature and be easy to get along with.

Forget the past and all that is there; press on. As long as you are looking behind you, you are not moving forward. You can't press on when you are strapped down with your past. You cannot keep your eyes fixed on what lies before you when they are fixed on what is behind you. What is under the blood stays there. When Christ forgives us of our past and lets it go, we must do the same.

There is a wonderful day ahead of us in which we will be with our Lord. Keep your eyes focused on that day and live for it with all the energy and determination you can muster. The Lord is ahead of you, waiting for you. He's got your back covered so give Him all you've got.

KEEP ON BECOMING

 

KEEP ON BECOMING

Phil.. 3:12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. NLT

Whenever Paul came down hard on holy living, he saw himself in light of his teachings. He was honest about his own struggles to live rightly before God. He knew what kind of a man he needed to be before God and understood that it is a process of growth. He knew that in order to be the person God wanted him to be he had to put much work into it. His goal was to become that person, no matter if it took him the rest of his life to get there.

We need to see ourselves in the same light. No one on earth will ever obtain perfection in their spiritual walk. We are made perfect in Christ in that He is our perfection, but for us to be able to claim that we no longer need to be worked on is just not going to happen. There is much work that the Lord needs to do in all of us. We cannot coast our way to holy living. We must constantly be at work striving to improve the quality of our faith walk.

The more work we do, the more we come to realize that our need for Christ is so much more than we already have of Him. There is a constant warfare with Satan going on within us. Satan is doing all that he can do to hinder our progress. He constantly is devising new ways of attacking our souls to derail us.

Let us keep striving for that day in which our salvation will be complete and we will be all that Christ saved us for and wants us to be. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. Keep on becoming the person you can be and God wants you to be in Christ. Stay the course; never give up. With the Holy Spirit’s guidance and help, you can be a person God is well-pleased with.

JESUS DID IT!

 

JESUS DID IT!

Phil. 3:7-9 I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. NLT

Take a moment and think about those things in life that you value the most. What makes life worth the living for you? What do you work for? What in life do you deem to be important enough for you that you are willing to make whatever sacrifices you need to make in order to have it? Do you have a list in mind? It may be a very short list, or it could be a long one, but everyone has something in life they deem important enough to live for. When we lose sight of life's purpose, what is the point of living?

In our text today we are challenged to rethink our list. The Apostle Paul had climbed the ladder of success. He had achieved what his heart had longed for. He had the respect of his peers and was looked to for getting done what was deemed to be the most important task on earth, getting rid of the Christians. Paul was good at it. He was feared wherever he went. And then, he met Jesus. His encounter forever changed his life and all that he deemed worth living for. Paul quickly learned that everything was worthless when seen in the light of Jesus. It was all garbage---all the fame, fortune, respect of his peers, everything.

There is nothing in life worth more of our time, energy, or ambitions than Jesus. He alone is worth living for. In Jesus alone do we find hope and a reason to live. He alone fills the empty void of the heart. He alone saves us from sin's death grip. He alone is worth giving up our lives for.

If Jesus is not on the top of your list, your life is out of balance. You need to get your priorities straight today. What value is there in having everything you want in life if you don't have Jesus? He will not play second fiddle in your life. He either is your purpose for living or He isn't. You can't value anything else more than the Lord and still be in good standing with Him. He will not share His place in your heart with anyone or anything else.

Jesus did it! He alone paid the price for our salvation. He alone made it possible for us to be accepted by God. He alone has the authority to forgive sins. He alone will get us into heaven. Jesus is worth giving your life to and for. He is far more valuable than anything else in all of the world.

Is Jesus more important to you than anything else in life? If not, you need to seriously get your priorities straight right now while you can.

STRIVE FOR PEACE

 

STRIVE FOR PEACE

Phil. 2:14-15 In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your light shine brightly before them. NLT

When I was young, I liked to argue with those who did not see things as I did. I just knew I was right and was convinced I could prove others wrong. In fact, I felt like I had to help them "see the light." Fortunately, I grew up. I learned how futile and fruitless arguing was. I discovered that rarely does anyone win an argument. We dig our heels in and refuse to be persuaded by words. Rarely does anyone listen to what is being said or why it's being said. I learned that it is far more profitable for relationships if I'd stay away from arguments. In good relationships, you agree to disagree agreeably and not let your differences in understanding interfere in your peace and rob you of your common good.

It does no one any good to be a complainer. No one likes to keep company with complainers. Constant complaining wears thin quickly. If you have an ax to grind, don't bore others with it. It is far better to go to the source of your problem and seek to resolve things personally. Complaining is never productive. It robs the complainer of the peace and joy of living.

It is far better to just keep your nose clean and stay away from complaining and arguing. It is far better to be known as a person of peace. Arguing drives a wedge between people; complaining drives them away.

Mind your own business. Strive to live a blameless life before God and let Him take care of that which is not yours to deal with. You are not responsible for changing others to your way of thinking. If they are wrong, pray for them and let the Lord handle it. Don't waste your time and energy on those things you can't fix or control. People need to see and know Christ, not hear and know your opinions.

GOD WORKING IN US

 

GOD WORKING IN US

Phil.. 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. NLT

If your heart is right with God, there will be no doubt as to where your heart is. You will want to obey the Lord and you will have within you the power to get it done. The Lord never stops working to help you live a life pleasing and acceptable to Him. Isn’t that unbelievably good news?

Your desire to obey the Lord is directly tied to your desire for Him. If you are struggling with obedience and applying His Word to your life, you need to re-examine your heart before Him. It is easy to allow sin to creep in or to become complacent towards Him. The Lord will not force His way into our lives or make us obey Him. We must allow Him to work in us and then willfully cooperate with Him in what He is doing.

We can live according to Biblical standards. We can please God in the way we live out our lives. Anyone can do it if they have the desire to do so because God has the power to enable them to do it. God never takes up residence in the heart and sits there, doing nothing. He is always working to make us holy. He is always at work to change us and make us one with Him in purpose. He is always at work to change our attitudes and behavior to be more in line with the Word.

If you are not aware of the working of God in your heart, you need to humble yourself before Him and renew your commitment to Him. You should see obvious changes in the way you live and think. You cannot go on living in Christ without Him making significant changes in you. Do not be satisfied with being who you are. Ask the Lord to continuously change you into the person He has created you to be, a humble and holy servant of God.

Christ in me makes all the difference in the world!

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LIVE

 

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LIVE

Phil. 2:12-13 Dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. NLT

We should be striving to obey the Lord regardless if we are surrounded by a crowd of people or are all alone. We should not seek to obey the Lord only when we are noticed. Obeying the Lord is the natural response of those who are His children. Obedience is an act of love and respect. It is normal behavior for those who are saved. Obeying God is a joy and not a drudgery. It is the delight of our heart and not a pain in our neck. Obedience is nothing more than putting into action saving grace.

Obedience comes out of the heart with deep reverence and fear for God. We grasp the eternal meaning of our salvation and what the Lord has done to make it possible. We value His love that devised the plan, became the plan, and carried the plan through to completion. We worship Him out of our deep gratitude for saving us and all that means for us.

We fear Him who holds the keys to life and death. We grasp the fact that He is holy and will not tolerate sin in His presence. Our fear of Him compels us to live holy lives before Him. We understand the importance of saying no to sin and striving with determination to stay strong in Him so that we can say no.

Dear child of God, He is at work in you to help you! He knows that you can't live in Him without His help and so He is working to help increase your desire for Him and to give you all the power you can handle to get it done., so be careful how you live before Him.

Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flows upon and through us!