Press Toward The Mark

My brother preached a message some time ago about always pressing toward the mark.  You might ask yourself what does that mean?  To me, it means to always be heading in a direction that takes us straight to the Lord.  When I meet Him face to face I want to hear Him say "Well done thou good and faithful servant". How do we reach "the mark" when this old world weighs us down and tries to take us farther and farther in the opposite direction?  First of all, we have to get rid of the things that are holding us back.  We must forget our past failures and successes.  Our sins are in the past, they have been forgiven.  Most of us have no problem forgetting about something we have failed at, but many may question why we should forget about our past success and strengths.  Philippians 3:13&14 -  "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, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  We have a tendency to feel proud of ourselves when we've done something good or have been successful at something. The danger in that is, we lose sight in the fact that we were able to accomplish that thing because of the Lord.  As Paul said in the previous verse, we need to put it all behind us, good and bad, and look toward what we can do in the future.  We have to always be "pressing toward the mark".  It's hard to move on when you have failed, and sometimes I think it's even harder when you have succeeded.  I think about the high school football player who reached the highlight of his life at 16 or 17 because he couldn't move on past the success on the field.  Thankfully, God has given us a plan....it's His word.  Phillippians 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me".  We must RELY on the Lord.  Without Him, we are nothing, but with HIM we can do ALL things.  We need to REJOICE in the things of God.  I Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice evermore".  We need to have RESOLVE in the things of the Lord.  We have to make up our minds to do whatever the Lord is calling us to do.  Phillippians 4:11 " Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content".  It's interesting that Paul says he has learned to be content.  Sometimes, the Lord has to teach us lessons so we will understand that it's much better to be in His perfect will than to be outside of His will.  He has a plan for us and we have to resolve ourselves to His will.  We need to REALIGN our thinking.  Phillippians 4:8&9 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and it there be any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  Our thinking has to stay focused on the Lord and His word.  Even nonbelievers understand this concept.  I have seen and read many "self help" books that talk about positive affirmations and positive self talk.  They understand you will become what you are putting into your mind.  We must put the things of the Lord in our minds and in our hearts.  Finally, we need to REMEMBER what Christ has done.  Psalms 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, as far hath he removed our transgressions from us".  Hebrews 10:17 "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more".  Jesus died for us so that we can have life eternal.  Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved".  He didn't specify a particular race, or religious group, or male, or female..my bible says "WHOSOEVER".  This is a special week for Christians.  Passion week....take time to think about what Christ did for us and especially take time to tell someone who doesn't know Him.  I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and enjoy the time with family and all the good food!  Thanks for reading today, I promise my brother did a much better job in the pulpit, but I hope I was able to get some thoughts across for you to ponder.  Love you!