Copy / Paste

I cannot take credit for this but it was so good that I had to copy and paste it! This is an email I got from some dear missionary friends. This email has beauty and 'meat' to it regarding the new year . . . unlike my latest post that had sheer survival of life written all over it! May we all be blessed by Gods word and the wisdom that pours from these mature believers in our Lord.

Forgetting....Reaching

Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God.

Philippians 3:13-14

A fresh page of a New Year awaits our story. Day upon day we etch our personal history on the pages of time. The choices we make are our ink and pen. With inevitable twists and turns the plot unfolds and moves towards its climax. What will be the enduring theme of our life after the last page is turned and the book is closed?
None of us escape the crosscurrents of humanity's earthly drama - love, hurt, foolish decisions, providential opportunities, dreams and regrets. We each have our share. Yet, those who are Christ-followers possess a glorious horizon, a magnificent obsession. Paul called it a "prize," an "upward call."
Pressing on and reaching forward are not possible without first letting go of what lies behind. Unshackling the ball and chain of past failures and painful wounds is not easy. But it is essential.

The goal ahead of us is too eternally significant, the stakes are too high to wallow in the mire of the past which we cannot change, or to allow haunting memories and unresolved conflicts to suck the marrow out of our future. The goal is nothing less than growing into the fullness of the likeness of Christ.

Hosea the prophet foreshadows the Apostle Paul's words when he wrote

"So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord." Hosea 6:3