"PRESSING ON TOWARD THE PRIZE"

Good Evening to All!

I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured an made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [ it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is call us upward.
(Philippians 3:13-14)

When I read my devotional today and saw the title, "Keep Pressing On", it reminded me of the old song "Onward Christian Soldiers". I know that has to do with we Christians marching into Spiritual Warfare, but I also put it into the context of us persevering against the hindrances and obstacles that Satan throws in our pathways to get us side tracked off our pathway to God's kingdom and the heavenly prize waiting for us.

Have you ever consciously thought about your relationship with God? I must admit, sometimes I’m ashamed of myself. I let myself get “content” with my level of depth with Him, yet I’m always trying to think of ways to be closer to my husband, and to make him happier. This is exactly the way we should be with God. We should NEVER be satisfied with what depth our relationship with Him is. It should get deeper and deeper all the time.

To do this though, we need to “bunker down” with our Bibles and prayer to get to know Him. I’m not saying we have to read our Bibles 24 hours a day ( if we read it enough though, it will be instilled in our hearts 24/7 and that’s a good thing). The Bible says to pray without ceasing. This doesn’t necessarily mean literally pray constantly, after all we must support our families. We can be in a “prayerful spirit” though. A prayerful and Christian attitude towards others, our jobs, our families, and friends. If you know someone having a hard time, help them if you can or at least send up prayers for them. All of these things will help you get to know God better, because when you do these things you are in the “mind of Christ”. The more you pray, read and get to know God the more you will want to know God, so you will pray and read more. It starts a cycle.

We have all fallen short of the glory of God. The key is to fall forward, toward God, not away from Him. I have seen people who were doing really well in their walk with Him, when they fall back into their “old ways” and do something contrary to their walk. Instead of showing God how much they love Him by asking Him for forgiveness, repenting and NOT DOING IT AGAIN, they get an attitude of failure and “unworthiness” , using that as an excuse not to go back to church. That is definitely the wrong attitude to take on. God knows we aren’t perfect, He knows we are going to fall, and He tells us if we ask for forgiveness and repent, He will cast our sins into the sea of forgetfulness and not remember them. BUT we have to ASK.

Now, the next item on the agenda is to forgive ourselves. We shouldn’t dwell on our past mistakes. We must keep moving forward. If we continue to dwell on our mistakes, this means that we haven't forgiven ourselves. I finally woke up to the fact that if I can't even forgive myself, how can I expect God to, yet He has mercy enough to do so, therefore if I don't forgive myself, it's like a slap in the face to Him.

We must keep our eyes on the heavenly prize which is spending an eternity in heaven with God. Again, this is done by remembering when we fall, to get up, dust ourselves off, ask God for forgiveness as well as any one we have wronged, and get back into God’s Word and into prayer. Keep your heart right and ready. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

I hope I have made some sense tonight, I feel like my brain has been all over the place. (More than Usual! LOL!)

Good Night to All and May God Bless!