‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. ‘ (Psalm 42:1)
Beloved, do you sometimes yearn for something more? To be closer to God? To feel His tangible presence and love.
The psalmist yearns dearly to be with God.
Yet, his dream is our reality.
Becuase of Christ, there’s no longer a veil separating us from God.
“At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.” (Matthew 27:51)
As Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished!”, the chasm between us and God was forever filled.
You can be as close as you want to be with God.
You can receive all of His blessings.
You can claim all of His promises.
You’re no longer a stranger. You’re family.
So come. Drink from the living waters and be refreshed.
Taste and see that the Lord is Good.
Be Greatly Blessed!
Prayer:
Father, I’m ever grateful for Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.
I’m grateful that I can now come freely into your presence.
I’m grateful that I can drink from the stream of living waters.
Oh, how I’ve longed to dwell in your presence.
How I’ve longed to enter your courts.
And it’s through Christ that all of this is now possible.
Thank you and bless you. May all glory be to you.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
AMEN!
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Additional Thoughts:
There is some fairly strong emotive language coming from Paul in the latter part of Philippians chapter 3.
‘Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 3:13-14
He sets out to employ robust, forceful words full of powerful imagery that has a lasting impact upon the listener. We are encouraged to press on intentionally towards a goal.
We are to forget what is behind, hold fast to what we have attained and take hold of what is ahead.
Although our spiritual formation is not a matter of religious performance, neither is it a passive calling.
God has chosen us and we choose to actively follow God.
There is a kind of aggressiveness about pursuing God that Paul speaks of here.
There is a real earnestness that requires us to reach for our spiritual formation and allow God’s grace to do its work.
Do not look back. All the sins, trespasses, curses, and deaths – they’ve all been dealt with.
Look forward. To the righteousness, justification, blessings, and life – Jesus has bought them all for you through His sacrifice.
So we encourage each other to press on forward to what lies ahead.
We are intentional about aggressively pursuing our complete identification with Christ, so that others will see and be drawn to Him.
We make this goal of becoming like Christ our own. It absorbs our focus and attention.
It is a goal that has captured our heart.
And no goal is reached without leaving behind the lesser so that we can attain the greater.
Leave sin behind for righteousness.
Leave death behind for life.
Leave curses behind for blessings.
Leave fear behind for love.
What is holding you back from earnestly pursuing Christ? Leave it behind.
With the single-mindedness of an athlete, we are called to lay aside everything harmful and forsake anything that distracts us from pursuing the goal.
Let go of the old and pursue the new.
Your abundant life in Christ is waiting ahead.
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