“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 13. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
When Paul wrote that he had not “apprehended,” he did not mean that he was not already saved. His conversion obviously took place on the Damascus Road, and other statements in his writings let us know that he did not doubt his salvation. What he meant was that he had more growing to do in Christ, and that he was not already what he would be. Neither Paul, nor anyone else, can claim to be at a point where more growth is not needed. Paul shared here what could help us grow in Christ. He wrote that he would forget “those things which are behind.” If we are going to go forward in our growth, forgetting the past will be absolutely necessary. Satan is adept at reminding us of all of the times that we have not lived up to our Christian calling. This is how he keeps us down in the dumps. We need to forget those things which we regret. I’m certain that most of us have some regrets. We have probably spoken words that we wish we had not spoken. Unfortunately, we cannot reel words back into our mouths. When words are uttered they are out to stay. But we can be forgiven for this and it does not mean that we have to let regretted words stunt our growth in Christ. We have all probably done some things that we wish we had not done. Like words, once a deed is done we cannot recall it, but we can be forgiven for it. We cannot let those deeds stunt our growth in Christ. We cannot undo the past, but we can learn from it. If the Lord makes us recall our past failures, it is to teach us to do better, to learn from them and go forward. Haven’t you had things that you have done or said that made you vow that you would never do or say them again? This is where Jesus would have us be, while Satan will rub our noses in these past failures. We need to let the Lord teach us to do better. I recall that in Matthew 26:75, after Peter denied Jesus that he “remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me thrice (three times). And he went out and wept bitterly.” This was a bitter pill for Peter to swallow, but Peter did not let his denial keep him from serving Jesus. Somewhere along the line, he repented, got right with the Lord, and preached that great sermon on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were saved. It might do us good to “weep bitterly” over our sins and failures, repent and go forward from there. We can’t undo anything from the past, but we can certainly do better in the future. Further, Paul wrote that he would not only forget what was behind, but that he would reach “forth unto those things which are before.” In other words, Paul would not give up because of the things that were behind. We have a tendency to feel defeated by our sins and failures. To do this is to fall into the hands of the devil. He wants us defeated and deflated so that he can have his way with us. Like Paul, we need to reach “forth unto those things which are before.” We do that by living each day, each present moment, being careful to trust the Lord. Let’s take Paul’s words to heart and “forget those things which are behind,” and reach “forth to those things which are before.” We can do it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s do it!!! Bro. Joe
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“Now when (Jesus) had left speaking, He said unto Simon (Peter), Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (catch), 5. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”
“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
This verse is part of Peter’s advice to wives, warning them that they needed to tend to their inner lives and live righteous lives. This is actually good advice for all of us, for we all have a “hidden person” which is what we really are. Think about your “hidden person.” Is your “hidden person” compassionate? When you respond to people from your heart, do you treat them with compassion? A few days ago I left an eating place where I live; a rough looking guy approached me. I have to admit that my first inclination was “I don’t need this.” But my “hidden person” said what if you were homeless and broke? Instead of worrying about whether the man really needed the help, I went into the eating place with him, gave them some money and told them to give him some food. (Notice I gave the eating place the money.) What little bit that I paid did not take anything from me or mine. Sometimes my “hidden person” is a real doofus, but better that than being stingy and mean-spirited. Keep a check on your “hidden person” and make sure that he or she is compassionate. Is your “hidden person” meek? Before you react negatively, remember that “meek” is not spelled “weak.” When we opt for meekness, we go into some good company. Moses was referred to as a meek man. He certainly wasn’t weak, but he surely gave a lot of his time, and his life, to getting the Jews to the border of Canaan. He had to put up with a lot of “junk” (so to speak) from the people for over forty years, but he stayed by the stuff. I’m sure that Moses sometimes asked himself, as we would, “Why me?” In the beatitudes, Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Meek people are willing to serve the Lord with caring and compassion. The “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10:29-37 is a good example of meekness. Is your “hidden person” easy to get along with? There are people that we really enjoy spending time with, and there are others that make it more difficult. This does not mean that you would have to be “hail fellow, well met” all of the time, but it does mean that you are pleasant in your dealings with people. For example, Jesus was a person that people loved to be with. Little children loved Him and would gather around Him. Jesus was God on earth, but He had time to be pleasant with people. He knew when to get tough and when to go easy. Christians really need to be easy to get along with if we are to be effective witnesses. You have a “hidden person,” that is, the person that you are within your heart that relates to God and people. Do a check-up on your “hidden person.” Bro. Joe “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
This verse comes almost to the close of 2 Corinthians. Paul had written a, sometimes, scathing letter. He closed the letter with a positive reminder of how they should behave. It is also a good message for us. First, he wrote that they should “be perfect.” That scares us because we think that it means we must be sinless. You and I both know of the impossibility of that request. The Greek word can be translated as “mature.” In other words, stop acting like children. This is a call for us to mature in our faith in order to show Christ to the world. Second, he wrote that he wished for them to “be of good comfort.” This could be translated to “be encouraged’. This is a message that we should take to heart. The Christian life is a great way to live, but we can become discouraged in our penchant to sin. Christ invites us to come unto Him when life gets hard, and living the mature Christian life seems impossible. We do not need to be comfortable in our sins, but we should be comforted and encouraged in our walk with Christ. Just the fact of being saved should give us encouragement. Lift up your eyes and rejoice in Christ’s love for you. Third, he wrote for them to “be of one mind” and to “live in peace.” I think that you will agree that to live in peace, we will have to be of one mind. This is a theme that is used throughout the Bible for the people of God. We should be at peace with each other. The opposite of living in peace is to be at war. Probably our greatest need is to be at peace within ourselves. When we are at peace within our minds and hearts, we are more apt to be at peace with others. There are some people who make living at peace a real challenge. However we need to meet the challenge. When we let negative people get to us and make us negative, we are the losers for it. Fourth, he reminded them that “the God of love and peace shall be with you.” This peace with God happens when we are maturing in our faith, when we are encouraged and when we are of one mind and living in peace. The promise is that God will be with us. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and He should be the catalyst for us to be mature, be encouraged and be of one mind. Let the Holy Spirit do this in your life. Bro. Joe "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.”
I woke up this morning with the word “consideration” running through my mind. I figured that God wanted me to write about it this morning, which I am obviously doing. It occurred to me that we are becoming an increasingly inconsiderate society. This inconsideration bleeds over into the church. The writer of Hebrews even detected this problem and reminded his reader to be considerate. If you wish to be a considerate person, you need to think about someone besides yourself. Now that I think about it, I have been praying for myself about this very thing. I want the Lord to instill in me a desire to always be considerate of other people. That is the least that we can do to be witnesses for Jesus. (You notice that with the “we” I added you to this thing.) To be considerate is a biblical command. We need to be careful what we say to people. Going back to my younger days, I remember that I would make cutting remarks. After awhile it finally got through to me that words can hurt people. Even before she was my wife, my late wife, Mary, used to tell me that what I thought was a “cute remark” was taken seriously by other people. I had to learn to be considerate in what I said. To this day, I remind myself of this. When you speak to someone, be considerate. We need to be careful that we do not let other people’s inconsiderateness get to us and cause us to be inconsiderate to them as well. We need to remember that we represent Jesus by what we say and do. When you feel like chewing out that rude clerk --- DON’T! That is just one example of what I mean, but I think that you understand that it reaches into all areas of our encounters with people. What is the aim of being considerate? “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.” Here is the NIV translation: “And let us consider how we may spur one another to love and good works.” Consideration is contagious. (Inconsideration is also contagious.) Think of what a witness your church could be if the members provoked, or spurred, each other to love and good works. Isn’t that the basic call of the people of God? Has what you said and did around people in your daily life, and in your church fellowship recently spurred people to love and good works? What about you preacher? What about you deacon? What about you Sunday School teacher? What about you choir member? What about you usher? What about you............etc.? I think you get the point. Let’s make it a point to “provoke unto love and good works.” Bro. Joe “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word."
I know the danger of taking a verse out of context, but some verses are so profound and meaningful that they stand alone within the context of the text. (I hope that didn’t confuse you. :)) I want to share with you what it taught me. The psalmist wrote: “Thou art my hiding place.” If we are not careful, we will misinterpret this statement. It doesn’t mean that we are to hide from the world and all of its challenges. It means that as we face the joys, fears, trials, troubles, etc. of this life, we have one to whom we can flee and take refuge. There is another Psalm that speaks to this: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God in Him will I trust…” (Psalm 91:1-2) The sentiment is the same: We have One to whom we can flee in times of trouble and stress and take refuge in Him. When you seek refuge in God/Jesus, by faith, you will know that He is real, and that He will provide a “hiding place.” All of the great saints in the Old and New Testaments knew the value of this refuge. David knew the value of it when he was fleeing from both Saul and Absalom. Those were not good times in David’s life, but he weathered them because He found his refuge in God. One psalm that David wrote while fleeing from Saul stated this: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” This can be our prayer as well. Furthermore, the psalmist wrote: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield.” Ephesians 6:16 sheds some light on this statement for us: “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” God Himself is our shield, but it is our faith in Him that makes His protection real to us. Ancient soldiers used shields to protect them from the swords and arrows of their enemies. By faith, we throw up God’s shield when we are beset by Satan and his many temptations. Satan wants to destroy our lives, but we have the protection of God who “will not suffer (us) to be tempted above that (we) are able.” (I Corinthians 10:13) The fact that we have a shield tells us that we are in the midst of battle. Make no mistake about it, we are in a battle. In the midst of battle, we cannot take God lightly and not depend on His power and strength in our lives. We need to learn from Jesus as He faced Satan on the Mount of Temptation: He quoted scripture to Satan with each temptation. (You can read about it in Matthew 4.) With God Himself coming to our aid, with our faith in Him shielding us, we have the weapon of the word of God, which is our sword, to defend us in all of the times of our lives. That’s why the psalmist closed this verse with: “I hope in thy word… ” We have God’s word, the Bible, to tell us what we need to know about Jesus and His importance in our lives. We cannot hope in God’s word, if we do not read and study it. The Bible tells us that we have provision beyond what the world can give! Read it! Believe it! Claim it! Do it! Bro. Joe “I remember the days of old…” |
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