SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Pressing On

Pressing On

Words of Faith 8-29-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

To unsubscribe follow the directions at the end of this devotional.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

 

Philippians 3 [12] Not 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.

 

 

      It is easy to forget that part. For some reason, we get to thinking that we grabbed hold of God when really it was God that grabbed hold of us.  Then we get these reminders that Christ Jesus is not some tool to get us where we want to be going. He is where we are going! 

       In reality, as a believer, I am something like the old mail sack hanging out on the post at the small-town train station.  When the train came by, I really didn't know what hit me!  Snagged by the passing train.  Hooked. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't hanging around anymore.  Jesus takes hold of us that way, and we are suddenly on His train track with His itinerary and His goals ahead.

       But so often we look at it in just the opposite way.  "Lord, will you come and get on my train?"  Lord, I will take you wherever I go!"  (Like a sack of holy mail?)  "Lord, I will even let You be the conductor!"  (Well... sometimes)!   "Lord, You can even stoke the engine and give me power to get me where I want to go." 

        Of course, that is not how it works at all.  Either we are on His train, or we are not headed the right way at all.  All this would seem pretty ominous except for the confessional part where Paul says, "I'm not there either!  I know this stuff, but to be really honest, I get off track as much as the next guy.

       I have not obtained all this or been made perfect.  But I PRESS ON.  That is the key. I won't quit even when I don't understand.  I won't stop even when I am discouraged.  I won't abandon the One who grabbed me and gave me life." 

       Paul knew a lot about tough times.  He was run out of most of the towns he preached in.  He was stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, and plagued with some disease.  But something in Paul kept him going.  Perhaps it was just knowing Jesus. Once he knew Jesus, Paul was never the same.

         So how about you? Are you thinking of quitting?  Thinking of leaving this Jesus journey?  It's not that easy.  You see Christ Jesus has taken hold of you, and you will never be the same.  Persevere.  Press on.  Take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.

 

     Lord, help me today to sense Your pull in my life toward the future.  I choose to press on.  I am leaning ahead and hanging on to Your train.  Help me to see the purpose and take hold of that for which You took hold of me.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an E-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org.  Or you can call the church office at 321-259-7200 x1.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     

The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><