Saturday, August 2, 2008
"...but I press on to take hold of THAT..."
Great night last night as we considered Php 3:4 - 13 and how the apostle Paul was perpetually reaching to take hold of "...that..." for which Jesus had taken hold of him. I so appreciate how Paul lived in the tension and peace of knowing he was in the center of God's will, yet at the same time continually reaching for ALL God had for him in this life. Everyone who has been laid "hold of" by Jesus has been apprehended for a both a GENERAL and SPECIFIC purpose. General in that we are all supposed to become more like Jesus and "bear fruit," yet specific in that according to Eph 2:10 "we are...created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do..." "...Prepared in advance..."??? You mean there are specific things we are to accomplish for Him in this life that He has already prepared for us to do. YES! Now to me that is a big thought...any thoughts???
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it may be weird, but I am going to comment on my own post. Do you think laying hold of 'THAT' could have anything to do with what I shared this morning from Luke 9:23? The fact that to follow Jesus toward our destiny we have to "deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him"...do you think that is directly connected to apprehending "THAT?"
I for one feel that it is directly connected. Just looking at one aspect of your message... denying yourself... or "preferring others," puts us into a constant tension of putting aside our wants and desires in favor of someone elses. Laying hold of "that" at least on some level has a ring of servanthood to it.
I also feel that "that" is tied directly to our lifestyle. How we treat others, or more importantly how we actually "see" others, how we respond when we are hurt by others, how honest we are in all situations... this list is endless but I think you know where I'm headed. I think that being all we can be, pure...spotless... without blame... is certainly tied into "that."
Interesting that we are exhorted in both cases to actively take something up, not simply lay something down. Perhaps when we take hold of THAT there is an equal and opposite "divine exchange" that takes place as we cannot carry both our SELF and the THAT/CROSS. We are called to carry the CROSS and let Him carry us into our THAT. This, to me, is the essence of what salvation is.
(Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other...")
So one of my questions is... Can we retreat from our SALVATION AND and our THAT when we neglect to take up our cross?
This was not intented to sound like a tongue twister... : )
i think perhaps I need some notes from Friday...
Yeah!...i saw that connection on sunday. Gotta think more about it...
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