13Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 3:13-14
Ok, ok. I have a new lease on life. And what do I do with it. Yes I know all this stuff about the spirit filling me and working in and through me to enable me to walk in his statutes and ordinances, but I have this little bitty, bitty, . . . bitty problem.
I see me in the mirror.
Unfortunately it is not the me that He says I am, but the composite of the me that I have lived. I see the fat, both physically and spiritually. Spiritually? Yes, spiritually. The stuff I have held on to as if it were valuable. The storage of all those misunderstandings and actions on them. The sins that He has forgiven me for but for which I seem to like to return to. See fat is comforting. It is familiar. It is not hard and strong like muscle and bones . . . like the truth of stuff. It molds to what I need it to. It helps me feel good about myself, taking away the edges. Kinda like being luke warm, not standing for anything of any substance does as a Christian. It says its “an affair” not its “adultery.” It says it’s a slight unfortunate misrepresentation rather than it’s a lie. It says it is “self love” rather than it is “selfishness and pride.” It says it is just a man thing to google that porn, instead of it is lust and leads to destruction. Yeah, that fat, well . . . I still see it in the mirror. It bears witness of the me I have been. It tells the story of the heart I have lived. It does not bear witness of the new heart I have been given.
So what am I to do with all that past stuff that seems to be right here in front of me, enveloping me.
“ . . . .forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 3:13-14
I must purposefully choose to forget those old ways and sins and press forward toward the new me, the new life I am called to in Christ Jesus. Practically, may I give a couple of suggestions? Start by asking the Lord what needs to be replaced.
See it is a whole lot easier to try to do something new not to try to NOT do something old. To replace the old with the new . . . that’s the ticket. Now it may take some work to determine what to replace stuff with, but don’t worry. Ask God to lead you to sources that will help you with that. Like if its sexual temptations pick up the book “At the altar of Sexual Idolatry.” By Steve Gallagher. This book deals with the heart of the matter. The heart of a matter is always the best place to start. If it is diet and the need to exercise or rather gluttony and slothfulness, . . .there are any number of books on the market and any gym will gladly introduce you to a new lifestyle. You might want to start parking farther away. Just a start. If it is relationships, almost anything from New Life Ministries may be able to help you. Not to mention an good dose of reading Proverbs and Psalms every day.
All of the above is the “pressing” part. See it is not enough to simply have a new heart you must feed it what it needs to remain healthy.
By now some of you are probably saying, he didn’t mention the bible. Well although I thought it went without saying, I know that oftentimes we have difficulty understanding the truths found in it. The sources I mentioned are based upon biblical exegesis (the in depth study of the word). Just trying to help.
However, before you rush off to your nearest Christian bookstore or Christian Book Distributors (online – and no I do not receive any money for plugging any of these sources), may I point out something of EXTREME importance.
You can not do this on your own strength, power, or understanding. See the chapter which I pulled this quote from has a lot more in it as to HOW we may do this new work, live this new life.
8 . . . .I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,9and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;11in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Did you notice that these words come right before the quote at the beginning? He is making it clear that we can not do this by our own power or strength. You have to ask Christ to empower you to do this. You must embrace Him. Practically, you must act in obedience to His word believing that He has already accomplished what you have been instructed to do. That he has already empowered you to do it. That the change in you is already accomplished. That my brother and sister is faith.
See faith without works is dead. But you and I are now alive. We have a new heart and a new life.
So forget the past and press forward to the goal, your completely transformed life in Christ; the life you were designed to live. Do the work by faith.
Got it?
Got Word?
Love yah,
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