PRESSING ON

I was chatting with a friend just yesterday and she said something that struck me. The whole encounter for me emphasizes the importance of the kind of friends one keeps around them. My friend mentioned the Bible verse below:

Philippians 3:13-14 NIV – Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Pressing on implies there’s some resistance to forward movement, doesn’t it? 🤔

This is the definition I found online:
Pressing on means to continue with a task or activity in a determined way; not allowing any problems or difficulties to delay you.

Is that not life here on earth?? The very thing that makes believers yearn for life on the other side. There are many accounts of believers who have had life after death experiences where they got to the gate of heaven and were asked to return to carry out some work or the other or to complete a particular task. Guess what? They didn’t want to come back! Heaven! 😍

Remember what Jesus told His disciples?

John 16:33 NIV –
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

How do we press on?
•⁠ ⁠We must be intentional. You can’t just leave things to chance. You must put in the work of reading your Bible, meditating on the Word of God, commit to prayer and fellowship. If you fail to do these things among others you easily become stagnant and the tendency to drift is very high.

•⁠ ⁠We must remember our higher calling. Once you are in Christ, you may be in the world, but you are not of the world. We must remind ourselves daily of our vision and mission statement as believers: To get to heaven and take as many people along with us as we can – remaining and growing in the faith and evangelizing.

•⁠ ⁠Total surrender to God. God doesn’t just want a part of us, He wants all of us. Every sphere of our lives should be placed in His Able Hands.

•⁠ ⁠Prayer and more prayer. We’re instructed to pray without ceasing. Prayer is not just talking to God, but hearing from God. Even in human relationships we notice that it takes communication and spending time with someone to become close to them. What more the Great God of Wonders?!

• Put on the full armour of God⁠ ⁠daily. We’re in a war; don’t ever lose sight of it. And yet, the victory has already been won by Christ’s death on the Cross and Resurrection. The words of this song come to mind – “I am on the Lords side, I will never give up, I’m an overcomer, for the Lord God is on my side!’ Indeed!!!!

•⁠ ⁠Don’t give up! We have a God who never fails. His attributes are endless and He has promised to be with us on the mountains and in the valleys in our lives.

•⁠ ⁠The Holy Spirit!

It is well!
Egobe!
God dey, so noooooooo shaking!

I’ll end with this Bible verse.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

God bless you! 🤗

I would love to hear back from you in the comment section.