10-22-22 A Clear Objective

Daily Devotion: A Clear Objective - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us —Philippians 3:13–14 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-clear-objective/ - Listen In the film City Slickers, Billy Crystal plays the role of Mitch, a New Yorker in his late thirties whose marriage is falling apart. He goes to a dude ranch to become a cowboy for two weeks, and there he meets an actual cowboy named Curly. As they’re riding along on their horses, Curly, a man of few words, turns to Mitch and tells him the secret of life is just one thing. “That’s great,” Mitch says, “but what’s the one thing?” “That’s what you gotta figure out.” The apostle Paul figured it out. He said, “I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13–14 NLT). Paul had a clear objective. Notice that he said, “I focus on this one thing.” David, the great psalmist and king of Israel, summed it up this way in Psalm 27: “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple” (verse 4 NLT). What is the one thing that gets you up in the morning? What is the one thing that gets your blood pumping, the one thing that you are really passionate about? For the apostle Paul, that one thing was Jesus—following Jesus and knowing Jesus. And that’s what we should focus our attention on as well. I’m not running the race of life for people. I’m not even running this race for whatever heavenly reward I may receive. I’m doing it for Jesus.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more