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Sometimes I just sit and have a big ole conversation with God and you know, He listens. He really does. This am we discussed stuff that I regret and wish I could change and how I really don't want to even think about some of those things...they are not all my fault ~ sometimes we suffer because of others sinning against us...or we react sinfully towards others sinning against us...
Anyway, I have been reading and looking into I Peter...and I thought this am I would read another version...but before I did, I decided to click on a Bible devotional...honestly, I never do...but I did
And there, God answered me in the things I said to Him. He is really quite faithful in that way to me and always has been. You know, when you wonder if He hears you? Yes...He does hear. This, from the 'Bible League'...read it below, or follow this link to the SOURCE...left hand (facing) column
Based on this passage from Philippians 3: 12 ~ 14
. . I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
After the Apostle Paul's conversion experience, he began to "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." What did Jesus take hold of him for? It was to "know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11). It was, in other words, to know the fullness of what it means to live, suffer, die, and be raised from the dead in Christ Jesus. Although he had not yet taken hold of it in its fullness, it was the goal toward which he pressed on so that once he reached it he would "win the prize" that God had waiting in heaven for him.
Before "straining toward what is ahead," Paul had to forget "what is behind." What he had in mind here is not reflection on the past in general, but only that which keeps one from pressing on into the future. As a former persecutor of the church, of course, Paul had more problematic memories than most.
It would be easy to imagine Paul going over and over in his mind the atrocities he visited on the church. It would be easy to imagine him consumed with regrets. That kind of remembering the past, however, is precisely what should be left behind, because it can keep you from going forward. Further, it needs to be left behind because it implicitly assumes that the atoning work of Jesus Christ never happened.
If regrets have you going over and over the past in futile quests to resolve them on your own, then consider that God remembers your sin no more (Isaiah 43:25). If God Himself can forget your sins, there is no reason for you to allow ugly memories to torment you and hinder you from pressing on into the future.
One thing I would like to note, Paul did not consider himself as having obtained...so he pressed on...this does not mean he thought he would loose salvation (I beg of you...let us not have that argument yet again)...he just wanted more of his Savior and less of himself.
so, thank you Heavenly Father for your words to me this am...I hope they help someone else too!
Anyway, I have been reading and looking into I Peter...and I thought this am I would read another version...but before I did, I decided to click on a Bible devotional...honestly, I never do...but I did
And there, God answered me in the things I said to Him. He is really quite faithful in that way to me and always has been. You know, when you wonder if He hears you? Yes...He does hear. This, from the 'Bible League'...read it below, or follow this link to the SOURCE...left hand (facing) column
Based on this passage from Philippians 3: 12 ~ 14
. . I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
After the Apostle Paul's conversion experience, he began to "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." What did Jesus take hold of him for? It was to "know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11). It was, in other words, to know the fullness of what it means to live, suffer, die, and be raised from the dead in Christ Jesus. Although he had not yet taken hold of it in its fullness, it was the goal toward which he pressed on so that once he reached it he would "win the prize" that God had waiting in heaven for him.
Before "straining toward what is ahead," Paul had to forget "what is behind." What he had in mind here is not reflection on the past in general, but only that which keeps one from pressing on into the future. As a former persecutor of the church, of course, Paul had more problematic memories than most.
It would be easy to imagine Paul going over and over in his mind the atrocities he visited on the church. It would be easy to imagine him consumed with regrets. That kind of remembering the past, however, is precisely what should be left behind, because it can keep you from going forward. Further, it needs to be left behind because it implicitly assumes that the atoning work of Jesus Christ never happened.
If regrets have you going over and over the past in futile quests to resolve them on your own, then consider that God remembers your sin no more (Isaiah 43:25). If God Himself can forget your sins, there is no reason for you to allow ugly memories to torment you and hinder you from pressing on into the future.
One thing I would like to note, Paul did not consider himself as having obtained...so he pressed on...this does not mean he thought he would loose salvation (I beg of you...let us not have that argument yet again)...he just wanted more of his Savior and less of himself.
so, thank you Heavenly Father for your words to me this am...I hope they help someone else too!
