Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please go this video link to hear the group Selah, singing In Jesus Name, We Press On, reminding Christians to press on no matter what our past has been.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Philippians 3: 13-14 [NKJV] …
13 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, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Philippians 3: 12-18 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passages #1 Luke 9: 23 … [I hope you have this one memorized by now!] …
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”
Reference Passages #2 Ephesians 1: 3-10 … Go to this link …
Reference Passages #3 2nd Peter 1: 2-4 …
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional opens with an interesting reference. Let me just copy and paste it here for your consideration …
ODB 6/1/14: Two of Australia’s indigenous creatures, kangaroos and emus, have something in common; … they seldom move backward. Kangaroos, because of the shape of their body and the length of their strong tail, can bounce along with forward movement, but they cannot shift easily into reverse. Emus can run fast on their strong legs, but the joints in their knees seem to make backward movement difficult. Both animals appear on Australia’s coat of arms [see photo attached] as a symbol that the nation is to be ever moving forward and making progress.
It’s fascinating to me that Australia chose these two creatures, engineered by God to move primarily forward as the symbols of their nation. Just as the USofA chose The Eagle because it flies high and free, Australia wanted (and now wants) to make a statement that it will keep moving forward no matter what it’s past has been; and that’s the lesson that my devotional reminds me of today from the highlight text as well as the reference verses from God’s word.
It has been said – and rightfully so – that one can’t drive a car by using only the rear-view-mirror. We have to keep our eyes on the road ahead and only glancing in the rear-view mirrors occasionally to be safe. No, we don’t want to repeat past mistakes; but one cannot go forward unless we, as the kangaroo and emu are created, move ever forward, as the Apostle Paul exhorts, keeping our eyes on the prize ahead, which is the path created for us by Jesus Christ.
My friends, if you’re here reading with me and you know Christ as your Lord, as do I, we must be ever moving forward, keeping our eyes on our Savior, following Him as our Good Shepherd. That’s what he commanded (see my oft quoted passage in Luke 9:23); and we can only follow Him if we keep our eyes on Him and the prize He has set before us (here the song today – linked above).
Here’s praying that we move ever forward to follow Christ and let Him lead us to the prize which awaits us in Heaven.
My Prayer for Today …Lord, I follow You. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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