A 2015 RESOLUTION- LIVE FOR HIM

2014 has come to end! Time truly flies, it feels like just the other day when we were making our plans and resolutions for the year and before we knew it, 2015 came upon us. Whatever happened took place in your life in 2014 one thing is certain: the lord has been gracious to all of us. The fact that we are alive is testimony to his grace and goodness. And for that let everything that has breathe praise the Lord.

Whether it was a good year or not you and I will never recover the year that has just passed. The Lord blessed us with the time and the various responsibilities in 2014 and we were stewards of them. The implication of been a steward is that you give an account to your master. We will be held accountable for the 8765 hours that we spent. The more sobering thought is that we will give an account to an all knowing, all wise, ever present God. He not only knows what I have done and said in every second of the year but he also knows my thoughts and intents of my heart. Every time I fooled people he was aware, every time I basked in people’s praise and stole his glory he knew, he knew and discerned every word of gossip and slander, every discontent attitude, every hypocritical action, and every time I lived for self. I can only say like the prophet Isaiah “woe is me for I am undone”.

And while we can only look back on 2014 and reflect, we can look forward to 2015 and chose to live for God. Can there be any better resolution than to be devoted to our Lord and devoted to the bride of Christ- the church. How can you be devoted to the church of Jesus Christ you ask?

Our devotion to God is seen in how committed we are to his church. The early church is our benchmark when it comes devoted to the Church of Jesus Christ. In Acts 2:41-47 they were devoted to four things:

1.      The preaching and teaching of God’s word- The believers in Acts understood the importance of been feed God’s word and been present whenever it is taught and preached. They craved for it like new born babes. It is important to remember that the text is not referring to them downloading sermons and listening to them on their gadgets but they attended and sat under the preaching of the word. 

2.      The fellowship with other believers- You cannot miss the oneness among the brethren, they had the same mind, they had all things in common, and they spurred one another. They had a sincere love for one another. They were a family. And that's what the church- a family! 

3.      They prayed together- They showed their dependence on God by praying to him and praying for themselves. They worshiped through prayer and were in awe of who God was. The ministry of the church in Acts is characterized by prayer. Prayer meetings should be the most packed meetings in the church is serious about its work and ministry

4.      They evangelized- Christ commissioned the disciples to be witnesses of him to the whole world. They boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ. And the Lord added to their number.

Brethren as for me and my family we will serve the Lord and be devoted to His church, chose today whom you will serve! Happy New year

PRESS ON- THE RACE IS ALL ABOUT FINISHING

As the year 2014 draws to a close, a number of us are going back to the resolutions we made at the beginning of the year and trying to see if at all we have met our goals and targets. I know there are people who gave up on their resolutions long time ago because they kept breaking them. I have come to realize that the end of the year can be quite frustrating for most people as it tends to be a reminder of their failures and hence leaves them powerless to make any resolutions or set any targets for the New Year. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians is a timely reminder to us when he charges them to “press on”

This encouragement is found in the third chapter of the letter to the Philippian believers. Paul says to them:

“Not that I have already obtained it or already become perfect but I press on in order that I may hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore as many as are perfect have this attitude, and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

In this passage Paul gives us three guidelines to help us to press on toward the goal that is set before us. In the preceding verses Paul says he does not boast in his achievements but actually counts them as loss because he has gained something incomparably better- Christ Jesus, and least people think he has arrived the apostle quickly moves to dispel that notion and that’s where we all need to start from if we are to press on.

We need to have an honest view of our spirituality, a certain level of discontentment of where you are spiritually. The goal of our race is to attain perfection, to become like Jesus, so until one reaches that standard we are not supposed to be content with our level of growth. It is this perspective that keeps us going. An athlete who thinks he has done it all and has arrived soon stops improving. Too many Christians are content with their spirituality that they stopped growing eons ago. Part of the reason we get into such thinking is because we often compare ourselves with others. Other Christians are not our standard, the Lord Jesus is!

Secondly Paul says he forgets what lies behind. A general rule of racing is that he you do not look behind as that slows you down and can actually cause you to trip and fall. Now if there is a person who could easily let the past affect him it’s Paul. Before salvation he was a persecutor of the Church, responsible for the killing of Stephen and after conversion he planted more churches than anyone else in the New Testament. Paul could have let his failures or successes get to him and render him useless in the present but he instead says, I forget all that is behind and I press on! John Piper puts it perfectly when he says:

“Memories of successes can make you smug and self-satisfied. Memories of failure can make you hopeless and paralyzed in your pursuit of God. Never look back like that. Give humble thanks for successes; make humble confessions for failure; then turn to the future and go hard after God.”[1]

Paul says he is not content with his growth, he knows he has not reached the standard he has been called to and he also forgets what lies behind, he does not let his failures and successes affect his growth. Therefore he presses on toward his goal. He has a single passion and goal in life that is to be like Jesus. He will not let anything distract him and he will apply all his time, energy and resources to get to that finish line. He is as focused as an athlete who is willing to endure pain and sacrifice everything in order to finish the race. He is willing to discipline himself for that cause. Paul says press on!

Dear friends as the year draws to a close and you take stock of your failures and successes my encouragement to you is simple: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore as many as are perfect have this attitude, and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

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[1]               Piper, John. ©2014 Desiring God Foundation