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Forget and Reach Forward
I wish I was a better person. I wish I wouldn’t give in to the urges of sin. I wish I was a better example. I wish I could write today and tell you that I have my life all together. I’ve come to find in my Christian walk that I’m not always going to make the right decisions. I’m going to fall from time to time. I’m going to slip and trip and mess up on occasion. But I’ve also found that I’m always going to get right back up and try again.
The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14 says, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
I’ve always loved this scripture because it shows the human side of the Apostle Paul. He was one of the greatest campaigners for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet he still had struggles and trials like we all do. If Paul didn’t have his life all together, then what makes me think I can get everything right? If Paul still struggled and had to lay his life down daily, what makes me think I don’t have to do the same?
Romans 7:15, 24-25 says, “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
This last week or so seems like it’s been really hard for me. To be honest, I haven’t been in my Word like I know I should be. I’ve been cutting my prayer time short. I haven’t grabbed ahold of God and spent that alone time with Him like I know I should. When I sat down to write this morning I really had nothing to write. It’s hard to stay focused all the time. It’s hard to discipline your body. It takes a conscience effort to lay down your life daily.
After praying this morning I fell asleep for a little while and when I woke up I knew I had to get into column writing mode. I had a few ideas I could have run with but I really didn’t know what to write about, so I took a break, pulled out my guitar and just started worshiping God for a little while. I had been neglecting playing all week and I know that usually is what gets me off track. When you stay away from God’s presence too long, the enemy starts creeping in and getting you sidetracked to the calling God’s placed in your life.
I thank God for Wednesdays though, because having this column to write always seems to redirect me. I know God uses these words to touch others lives, but He uses them first on me. I always hear pastors say that God uses the messages He gives them first to check their own lives before they are able to share them with the congregation. It seems to work that way with me too. I don’t take writing these columns lightly. I know that there is great responsibility in writing or speaking for God and I pray that these words help you in your Christian walk as well.
The Apostle Paul says to “Forget and Reach Forward.” No matter where you are in your life right now, God still loves you. I wrote last week about how a righteous man may fall seven times but he gets right back up again and I wanted to repeat that because I believe it is truly important that we grasp that we’re all going to make mistakes. We’re all going to slip up. There are too many Christians living in defeat, thinking that they failed God and that He cannot use them anymore or forgive them for what they’ve done. Jesus Christ died for every sin. Big or small. God’s grace is more than enough to cover anything you may have done in the past. It doesn’t give us permission to sin, but it does allow us to go to God and ask for forgiveness when we do.
Let go of that sin in your life today. Stop looking backwards at what you used to be. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus so start looking forward to what God has called you to be. Start walking in victory. God has called you to be more than a conqueror. You are royalty because you are a child of the King. Though we still struggle and have not yet arrived, if we “Forget and Reach Forward,” we will see God start to do that work in us and through us, and we will become everything God has called us to be.
w/muchluv,
geno
We want to thank everyone that purchased a special order colored PHF T-Shirt. Next time we place an order we’ll make that opportunity available to you again. For those of you that missed out, we still have T-Shirts for sale on the website in the standard Black color and now also in Royal Blue. Thanks again and don’t forget to pick up your copy of “The PHF Compilation” and CRS’s “No Holding Back” CDs.
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