Phil 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but 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.
The Lord gave me this verse just before the New Year arrived … sometimes we can be deceived in thinking that we’ve “arrived” but that will only happen when we are standing in the presence of our maker. But throughout the trials and temptations, the moments of joy and laughter, may we continue to press on to the prize of spending eternity with our Savior.
To those of you who read this, I wanted to share this devotional for January 1.
". . . my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death" —Philippians 1:20
My Utmost for His Highest. “. . . my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed . . . .” We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest— my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point— He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only— my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.
My Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. “Whether it means life or death-it makes no difference!” (see Philippians 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide— for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.
This spoke to me immensely as I have been taking “inventory” on the past year and the Lord was been revealing to me areas in my life where I still need to yield to Him and I know this but yet I continue to not surrender those areas to the Lord. Christ cannot be fully magnified in my body and through my life if I am not fully yielding every area to Him. I don’t know how it is that I sometimes get to the conclusion that God could use my help and at the end of that I have to humble myself and repent my lack of trust in the almighty and sovereign Savior. He has brought me thus far and He will continue to lead and guide me each step of the way as I continue to fully yield to His will and His calling. I pray that you are yielding to the His calling in your life as well. Happy 2012!
