Ready for the race? Part 4 4. Stay on track Philippians 3:12-14 12 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. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. PERSEVERANCE...PERSISTENCE...ENDURANCE...RESILIENCE Some of my favorite words in the dictionary. In my perspective, they are the true marks of a champion. This world attributes a lot of value to natural abilities and capabilities. Everyone assumes that a confident, knowledgeable, gifted, capable person is the one who is most likely to succeed. Weve all voted for someone with those qualities and their picture is in our yearbook but its interesting to see that where they are now is not where everyone projected they would be. I have seen that the most successful people are those who despite limited resources, extreme, unfavorable conditions, bombarded by low expectations; determine to rise above, work hard, sacrifice, maintain their momentum, get back up even when they trip and fall and keep moving til they reach their goal. Its easy to talk, to dream, to plan, even to start, but consistency is what matters and is really the key to success! So many of us are full of great ideas, our long-term plans are admirable, and we can have a strong start; but as soon as our strength starts giving out, as soon as the distractions become too difficult to ignore, in the moment when we encounter an obstacle too strenuous to overcome, we call it quits, we give up! Many of us have a history of unfinished projects. We get excited, we get everyone else excited but as soon as the enthusiasms and the excitement dies down, so does our effort. The bible is clear! We must STRAIN! That indicates pain, struggle, sacrifice. TOWARD THE GOAL! That indicates vision and mission. Jesus was the perfect example of one who persevered, pressed on, endured, strained toward His goal. Jesus was not a quitter! If He wouldve listened to the many voices around Him, some of those voices were those closest to Him, His family and friends; if He wouldve given up when the pain became unbearable; if He wouldve quit because of the unnecessary shame, mockery and embarrassment; He wouldve never made it to the cross and we wouldnt be here to tell about it enjoying all its benefits. You never know how transcendent your journey can become for the salvation and edification of many! Remember, at the end of the day what matters and what will be remembered is not how many attempts you made, but how much youve accomplished. It wont matter how great of a start you had, but how well you finished the race. So stick with it. Dont quit. Keep moving! Keep pressing on!!! Move youtu.be/6Bb-xSicabI I press on youtu.be/FFbydiArXU4
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 20:58:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015