Notes From the Pastor's Desk
December 28, 2005
Reflection, Realization, Resolve
Read Phil. 3:13,14. As we will be entering into a New Year, we would be wise as Paul did to have reflection, realization and resolve. It helps to have the right view of the past, the present and the future.
I. Reflection - Having To Do With the Past
“Forgetting those things which are behind.” Too many people are so tied up with their past, their present and their future are hindered and jeopardized. We should learn from our past, but we are not to be obsessed and controlled by it, but we should forget several things about the past. We should forget about past sins, past failures, and past disappointments. If we are not careful they can be like a huge weight to hold us down and keep us from running our spiritual race for the Lord. Whatever happened in the past should remain in the past and not be a hindrance in the present or in the future. How much does your past affect your present? Our past may be much less than desirable but when we were saved the Lord gave us a “new beginning.”
II. Realization - Having To Do With the Present
“I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do.” The word “apprehended” means to “lay hold of.” Things do not happen by accident because success spiritually hinges, to some degree, on human responsibility. The Apostle Paul summarized it with three key words in Romans 6. Those words are know, reckon, and yield. It will help you if you study the context in which those three important words are given. If you and I can know we are to be dead to sin, and reckon that it is so, and in turn yield ourselves to God, victory can be ours in our daily experience. We must learn to trust God in our present, daily experiences for life to be what it ought to be.
III. Resolve - Having To Do With the Future
“Reaching forth to the things which are before, I press toward the mark.” The two words “reaching” and “press” suggest action which is on-going or continuing. We should be determined and resolved by the power of God, to never quit or go backward in a spiritual sense. If we walk with the Lord our future will be bright, blessed and bountiful. Make no room in your life for cowardice or retreat.