Press on Toward the Goal

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Press on Toward the Goal

Date: Oct. 28, 2016

Passage

Philippians 3:12-16 (ESV)

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 3:14

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

First, I press on (12). Why has Christ taken hold of you? John describes the fulfillment of our salvation in 1 John 3:2 where he says, "But we know when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." None of us, not even Paul, can say that we have obtained the perfection of Christ in this world. It will be achieved only at that great moment when the Lord appears. But it is still our goal and Christ has given us the power to follow it. We are to be like runners racing for their lives with their eyes firmly fixed on the finish line.

Second, but one thing I do... (13-16). Are you running the race to win? Winning requires a singular focus on the goal. Paul says, "But one thing I do..." Everything in his life is applied to this one purpose - winning the prize. Winning also requires us to always be looking ahead. Even a brief glance behind us to our accomplishments or trials in the past can distract us and cause us to lose our position. Finally, with great endurance, we are to strain towards the finish line - the day that is drawing closer and closer when Christ, with a heavenward call, will gather his people to be with him forever.

Prayer: Lord, give us a new spirit to run towards the goal you have set out for us.

One Word: The Lord has done this!

Countless Saved from God’s Wrath by the Blood of the Lamb

Revelation 7:1-17

Key Verse: 7:9-10

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Today's Question

Are all sins equally evil?

See answer and references