Laurie Warner / Receptionist

“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 upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

On the Staff Day of Prayer, I was reading Philippians 3 and was challenged by this verse. I realized that my goal wasn’t exactly to know Christ. I thought it was, but the reality was that I really just wanted to be happy. It’s difficult sometimes to let the Holy Spirit search the deeper parts of my heart and expose the falsehoods there. I am so grateful for God’s grace that doesn’t condemn, but convicts so that I can get rid of the junk and replace it with the best things that He has for me. One of the keys to going forward is to forget what is behind, to turn my back on the failures of the past and not bring them along, realizing that I’m forgiven for those things. If God removes my sin from me as far as the east is from the west, why do I want to give it any power over me in the present and future?

These are the challenges that I want to face this year, to know Christ in a deeper way. I know that with God all things are possible. I’m looking forward to seeing what He does in my life this year.