This week were going to talk about giving up, or rather choosing NOT to give up. This is a tough one for a lot of people, because at some point, we are all going to be faced with immense hardship. If you don’t come into this, count your blessings everyday because I know I have seen my fair share. This week’s scripture is, of course, from our favorite Rabbi from Tarsis, in Phillipians 3:12 through 4:9, and in it he speaks about “pressing on”. So lets head into the scripture…
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
2I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow,a help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
So let’s start to put these pieces into perspective. In verse 18 Paul tells us that there are “many enemies of the cross of Christ”. If you haven't lived under a rock for the past few years, you’ve no doubt heard of everything that has transpired around removing the Ten Commandments from schools, removing the phrase “One Nation under God” from the pledge of allegiance, or eliminating the word “Christmas” from the name of our December time break in public schools. These are just a few examples of what we are talking about here. On top of all that you will have peers around you that will mock you or your faith as a whole because you are Christian, and even further, you will see people that acknowledge Christ by their lips, and then go out and deny him by their lifestyle. It is very much a troubled world out there these days, but, here is where the comfort kicks in.
In the scripture Paul states that our citizenship is in Heaven (verse 20), and that is the truth. Our “home” is not here on Earth. We are here for a VERY temporary basis, and only the Lord himself can decide just how temporary that will be. I went to see Building 429 last night and they have a song called “Always” that I posted the video for on my main page of Facebook, give it a listen after you read this – it’s a VERY powerful song, when the lead singer was introducing the song he spoke about the situation that inspired him to write it. He was at an autograph signing and a woman walked up to him and handed him a picture of a little boy. She then began to tell him that the picture was her son and that one night she sent him to stay with her Ex-Husband, his father, for the night just like she had done many times before, but in the middle of the night, her ex-husband woke in a fit of rage and murdered her son.
This is just one example of the level of hurt we experience here on this earth. The song tells of this and a couple other stories around this pain, however it goes on to the chorus , “I believe always, always, our Savior never fails. Even when all hope is gone, God knows our pain, and His promise remains. He will be with you…Always”
We all get to the point where we feel like we need to ask “God, where are you?” Getting to that point, we aren’t any lesser Christians than we were or will be, unless we stay there. Isaiah 59:1 states “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” He hears us, and He will deliver us from this pain if you listen to Him. That is the point to where we have to hold on to our faith and move forward. I’ve always said that God speaks softly, until you hear him. When you do hear him, you’ll know where to go and what to do, but finding that voice is key.
Finally to all of this point I want to talk about the temporary vs. eternity. We are on this earth on a temporary basis and a lot of people talk about waiting for their eternity. The good news for everyone that we all need to know is that eternity doesn’t start when you pass from this world to your Heavenly home, it starts when you accept Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers. You step into your eternity at that exact moment.
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
2I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow,a help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
So let’s start to put these pieces into perspective. In verse 18 Paul tells us that there are “many enemies of the cross of Christ”. If you haven't lived under a rock for the past few years, you’ve no doubt heard of everything that has transpired around removing the Ten Commandments from schools, removing the phrase “One Nation under God” from the pledge of allegiance, or eliminating the word “Christmas” from the name of our December time break in public schools. These are just a few examples of what we are talking about here. On top of all that you will have peers around you that will mock you or your faith as a whole because you are Christian, and even further, you will see people that acknowledge Christ by their lips, and then go out and deny him by their lifestyle. It is very much a troubled world out there these days, but, here is where the comfort kicks in.
In the scripture Paul states that our citizenship is in Heaven (verse 20), and that is the truth. Our “home” is not here on Earth. We are here for a VERY temporary basis, and only the Lord himself can decide just how temporary that will be. I went to see Building 429 last night and they have a song called “Always” that I posted the video for on my main page of Facebook, give it a listen after you read this – it’s a VERY powerful song, when the lead singer was introducing the song he spoke about the situation that inspired him to write it. He was at an autograph signing and a woman walked up to him and handed him a picture of a little boy. She then began to tell him that the picture was her son and that one night she sent him to stay with her Ex-Husband, his father, for the night just like she had done many times before, but in the middle of the night, her ex-husband woke in a fit of rage and murdered her son.
This is just one example of the level of hurt we experience here on this earth. The song tells of this and a couple other stories around this pain, however it goes on to the chorus , “I believe always, always, our Savior never fails. Even when all hope is gone, God knows our pain, and His promise remains. He will be with you…Always”
We all get to the point where we feel like we need to ask “God, where are you?” Getting to that point, we aren’t any lesser Christians than we were or will be, unless we stay there. Isaiah 59:1 states “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” He hears us, and He will deliver us from this pain if you listen to Him. That is the point to where we have to hold on to our faith and move forward. I’ve always said that God speaks softly, until you hear him. When you do hear him, you’ll know where to go and what to do, but finding that voice is key.
Finally to all of this point I want to talk about the temporary vs. eternity. We are on this earth on a temporary basis and a lot of people talk about waiting for their eternity. The good news for everyone that we all need to know is that eternity doesn’t start when you pass from this world to your Heavenly home, it starts when you accept Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers. You step into your eternity at that exact moment.
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