Keep Pressing Onward

This morning I was thinking about how blessed I am to have a significant amount of time every morning to sit with the Lord. I was thinking of how much my time with Him has strengthened my faith and my knowledge of Him. I guess I would say I was feeling pretty good about my faithfulness to my time with Him. As I was sitting here thinking somewhat proud thoughts, I felt like the Lord directed me to Philippians 3:3, 7-14 NIV:

[3] "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh---

[7] But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

[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."

When I read these verses from Paul, I realized that in reality I have attained next to nothing, and certainly can not feel settled in my relationship with Jesus, nor even satisfied with the level of relationship I have, for there is so much more. Here is Paul writing about how he considers everything that he had gained to that point as mere garbage. Instead he continued to press onward, forgetting everything that was in his past, even the successes of the day before, and continued to pursue the Lord with passion and zeal. There was a sense of more, and understanding that Paul had of the depths and breadth and height of life in Christ and he knew he hadn't reached anything that resembled a resting place. There is always more in Christ, and He doesn't want us to be satisfied with what we have seen, but He wants us always longing for more of Him.

We must not put any confidence in any of our works, no matter how good and righteous they seem. Ith is only through Christ living within us that we will see His purposes for our lives fulfilled. We cannot rest on our accomplishments, our relationship, our intimacy, our knowledge of Him, for there is always more. This is not a scenario of a taskmaster always demanding more from us, but rather that of a Father who knows what we are capable of, has new experience in Him planned for us and is encouraging us into that which is new, better and more fulfilling. He is glorified in and through us, and we are fulfilled in Him.

So my personal encouragement this morning is to keep pressing forward, to never settle for anything I have attained, but rather to press in and onward knowing that I haven't even scratched the surface of the fullness and glory of God. I haven't achieved all the I am capable of, nor called to, so I desire to continue strain forward in passionate pursuit of the One who loves me, Christ Jesus my Lord.