Friends,

Happy Wednesday!  I hope that if you are not familiar with the scripture below, it will offer great encouragement to you, and if you are, that it will remind you again of the peace we have in Christ.

Phillippians 3:8-14 – “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upwardcall of God in Christ Jesus.”

This is probably my favorite verse/section of scripture in the Bible, because in one sweeping stroke of the pen, Paul encapsulates the whole of our Christian walk, and it’s grounding in the finished work of Christ on the cross.  Know that if you have trusted on Christ, if your heart delights in Jesus Himself, you are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17)

None of us were born Christians.  Many of us are only recent followers of Christ, maybe in the last few years, or even few months.  That means that we all have a mountain of sin in our past, but God is saying – “that’s not you anymore.  That was you for a time, but now you’re Mine, and I am yours.”  For those who may think that your sin is worse than others, know that there is no Biblical support for that, God never speaks about sin in that way.  God doesn’t care what type of sin you’re struggling with as much as He cares about if you are looking to Him, and holding fast to Him, amidst those struggles.

Your identity is no longer with the world, or your past sins.  Forget what lies behind you and push forward towards Christ.  As fallen creatures with lingering sin, each day we will fall in some way and need this renewal; to know that in Christ we can forget yesterday, to pursue Him today.  Do you wake up reminding yourself that today is a new day to grow your faith in the Lord?  Be comforted that the mercies and lovingkindness of God towards you are new each moment of every day.  (Lam 3:23)  He cannot love you more, and will not love you less – ever.  I’ll leave you with the exhortation of Hosea 6:3 – “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam