#103: Our Prize

On episode 103, Tim dives into Philippians 3 and focuses on verses 12-16 which talks about pressing on toward the goal.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into episode one hundred and three of Bringing Heaven Down.
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
daily devotional podcast that shows up in your feed Monday
through Friday. Today we pick back up again in Philippians
chapter three, and we will be focusing on verses twelve
through sixteen. If you want to hear my recent episodes,

(00:24):
I did discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk in episode
one hundred and one and one hundred and two because
of the world event. Of course, this podcast is going
to study God's word, but I also want to apply

(00:44):
God's word to world events. Like we saw last week.
We're picking back up in Philippians chapter three, verses twelve
through sixteen. So grab your favorite drink, your Bible's, your phone,
and a cup of coffee, and let's bring Heaven a
little closer together. So here's what the apostle Paul writes.

(01:10):
He says, not that I have already obtained all this
or have already been made perfect, but I press on
to take hold of that four which Christ Jesus took
hold of me. Brothers, 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.

(01:35):
I press on toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a
view of things. And if on some point you think differently,
that too, God will make clear to you. Only let

(01:56):
us live up to what we have already attained. And
what this is saying is that the Christian life is
a process. It is a race. We are trying our
best every single day to become more and more like Jesus.

(02:20):
And what's so frustrating about this goal for someone like
me is that I want to have a goal and
I want to accomplish the goal, Meaning I don't like

(02:40):
long processes. And we have been ingrained to think as
a society to take the process out of things. If
we have to wait longer than a second for our
internet speed to load, we get frustrated. If we get

(03:02):
stuck in traffic, that's not fun. And I'm sure we
have all been guilty of saying bad words in our
car when someone cuts us off. And this is pushing
back against the natural instinct that we have to accomplish

(03:26):
something right away, because as we continue to live for Jesus,
we are to become more like Jesus. And it's not
gonna happen overnight. We need to consistently submit and surrender
every single day. Be in God's word, listen to podcasts

(03:46):
about Jesus, go to church on Sundays. It's not a
situation where you work on this for a week or
two weeks, or a month or a year. When our
job is finished, when we have achieved the goal, we
are dead. But until that point, we push on. We fight,

(04:12):
we submit, we surrender, we read God's word, we educate ourselves,
we repent, we ask for forgiveness, and we press on.
My study notes say that we should not become complacent.
In other words, I would say we should not coast.
And what the apostle Paul says in verse fourteen, I

(04:34):
press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me. Our prize is not in
this material world that we live in. Our prize is
when we take our last breath and we are with
Jesus in heaven. And this is one of those things

(04:58):
that because challenging to think about because we're supposed to
live for Jesus and for this prize that we don't
experience until we pass away. But we press on towards

(05:22):
the goal, sanctifying ourselves, cleansing ourselves, repenting, and doing our
best to become more and more like Jesus. This is
a race. Our life is a race, and throughout our life,
our goal is to push on to the end without

(05:45):
being complacent and becoming more and more like Him. And
we are going to fail. I'm going to fail. I
feel this every day, and that's why we can thank
Jesus for forgiveness and we can ask him to teach us,
to cleanse us, to speak to us through God's word.

(06:08):
Our life is a race and the finish line is
Heaven itself. So press on toward the goal. Thank you
for choosing Jesus today, and if you have a question,
a comment, a disagreement, anything, email the show Bring Heaven

(06:28):
Down Number seven at gmail dot com. That's Bring Heaven
Down the number seven at gmail dot com. A love
listener contribution and that would be fantastic. Thank you and
hope you all have a wonderful day filled with the
fruits of the Holy Spirit.