Dear Friend,
I write this letter to you with the conviction that you will be edified, encouraged and strengthened to run that race that lies before you; not being hindered by the past or by circumstances that seem to bog you down.
You and I are born in this very day and age for a specific purpose. As it was spoken of Queen Esther in the Bible, God is also speaking to us today; that we are here on this earth "for such a time as this"! (Esther 4:14)
I acknowledge that you may be saying within yourselves right now, "You don't know my past, the failures I've made, the circumstances I was born into. I don't see how I can do what you say I can do!" And that is true. But I can tell you about someone who does. Someone who's made it to the top of society, reached the very bottom of society, and still ran the full course of his race.
The Apostle Paul, in his writings to the church in Philippi, exhorted them to press in to the calling that God had for them, not looking back at the past. At the time of his writing, he was languishing in a Roman jail, heavily persecuted by both Jew and Roman for his preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Read with me Philippians 3:4-6
Philippians 3:4-6 (NKJV)
though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
He wrote to them of his past qualifications and mistakes that he had; that:
1) he was a pure-bred Jew descended directly from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
2) he was better than the rest of the Jews because he kept the Hebrew customs and traditions
3) he was considered as one of the best of the Pharisees
4) he was blameless in the sight of the written law
5) he persecuted the church as a Pharisee was supposed to.
But note what he writes in verse 7-8
Philippians 3:7-8 (NKJV)
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
That is a strong statement. Imagine, a man who by the standards of his day, would have been considered overqualified with his skills and what he did; and he considered them to be rubbish (literally dung) in the light of him gaining Christ!
He writes further of himself in verses 12-14,
Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
This was a man who wrote approximately 50% of the New Testament (I counted!), and he speaks plainly that he hadn't attained or even reached it yet. He was still pressing on to pursue that which God had called him.
I want you to focus on verse 13 with me:
Philippians 3:13 (NKJV)
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
The word Paul used for 'forgetting' carries several other meanings to it; that brings out another side to it. It meant to neglect, to lose out of mind, to give over to oblivion. When he writes of forgetting those things that were behind, it can be safely said in the light of the earlier verses that not only was he talking about his qualifications, he also referred to the past mistakes he made, and the persecution he went through after he was converted and started preaching the Gospel.
In essence, what Paul saw to be the calling God placed on his life, he considered it to be so great and awesome that everything in his past paled in the light of what he saw before him!
Friends, some of you may have come from broken homes, dysfunctional families. Some of you may have come from normal homes and families. It does not matter. Some may not even know who your real family is. Mistakes may have been made. Some that you think are beyond recovery. Don't let that become a stronghold in your life that keeps you from fulfilling your destiny!
I do not know who my real family is to this day, but I'm not bothered by it. Why I can say that is because of who I know my Father to be, and the love that He has for me. You may know who your real family is; but that's not a 100% guarantee that you're part of it. Read Psalm 27:10 with me, what David said:
Psalm 27:10 (NKJV)
When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
If you examine the life of David when he was inspired to write that psalm, be aware that he already had his family. But in a way, it was as though he didn't have a family. Even his own father Jesse had forgotten about him when the prophet Samuel was searching through his sons for the one God would anoint as king over Israel. Yet in spite of that, it is written of David that he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and that he fulfilled the plan of God in his generation (Acts 13:36)
Even if you feel abandoned by all, know this: the same God of whom David said will take care of him, is the same One who will take care of you! He's promised that He'll never leave or forsake you, even to the very end! Read Hebrews 13:5(b)
Hebrews 13:5b (AMP)
He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
When Paul said that he was to 'press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call', he uses the word 'dioko' which means the following according to Thayer's definitions:
1) to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing
2) to pursue (in a hostile manner)
3) the seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavor to acquire.
This is the same word he uses when he said he 'persecuted' the church: dioko! It could then be said that to press towards that which God called you to do, you have to pursue it swiftly as though you were chasing your enemy, seeking after it eagerly and earnestly endeavor to acquire it until you obtained it! You have to be aggressive in the pursuit of the call of God on your life, whether it be in ministry or in the marketplace, or anywhere else!
My friend, the plan and calling of God will not fall on you and I like ripe cherries of a tree. It takes an almost hostile effort on our part to pursue it until we obtain it. And as we can see from the life of Paul, he obtained it successfully. He reached the end with such confidence that he could boldly declare in 2 Timothy 4:7-8,
2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NKJV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Likewise it is the same with you and I. God is calling for a generation of people who will be like David and Paul; who would pursue the call of God on their lives unrelentingly and fulfill it. Will you be one of them?
I pray for you!
Ken
