The High Calling: Pursuing Spiritual Victory with Purpose
Philippians 3:14a
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
There is something that Paul is after here. Let’s deal with this verse in reverse order if you don’t mind. Let’s talk about the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This reveals for us the why; why is Paul pressing? He is pressing because he has been given a high calling! It is important to know that you are called of God before you endeavor to weigh into spiritual warfare against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places...just saying!
Now that we know he is called, let us consider the prize. What could be the prize for fulfilling your God-given assignment? May I suggest that it is to be able to hear the words of the Lord saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” Paul considered this to be a sufficient pay-off, as he declared in 2 Tim. 4:7-8a, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…” The prize then is to finish well in the eyes of Christ our Master.
Now, let us consider the mark he is pressing towards. The mark is that moment in time in which he knows he has finished well, and has obtained the prize. And finally, let us focus on the pressing. Paul understood that the only way he was going to get there was by pressing. He said “I press…”
Question: Are you pressing? To press is to act upon with steadily applied weight or force. To fulfill your calling is not to sit idly by and just watch it drop in your lap. You have to apply pressure in the direction of your destiny, because nothing moves without pressure. Jesus even spoke of the pressure that Hell itself would undertake by those moving into their destiny, when He said, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” This literally means that Hell itself shall not be able to withstand the pressure applied by those busting through its gates!
To resist the devil so that he will flee is to return the pressure through the power of Christ in you! Fight back! Fight forward! Put the devil on the run! Resist the devil, and he will flee from you! You will always have to apply pressure to move forward, but if you run so that you may obtain, God will grant you the sweet cup of victory every time! PRESS ON!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
There is something that Paul is after here. Let’s deal with this verse in reverse order if you don’t mind. Let’s talk about the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This reveals for us the why; why is Paul pressing? He is pressing because he has been given a high calling! It is important to know that you are called of God before you endeavor to weigh into spiritual warfare against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places...just saying!
Now that we know he is called, let us consider the prize. What could be the prize for fulfilling your God-given assignment? May I suggest that it is to be able to hear the words of the Lord saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” Paul considered this to be a sufficient pay-off, as he declared in 2 Tim. 4:7-8a, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…” The prize then is to finish well in the eyes of Christ our Master.
Now, let us consider the mark he is pressing towards. The mark is that moment in time in which he knows he has finished well, and has obtained the prize. And finally, let us focus on the pressing. Paul understood that the only way he was going to get there was by pressing. He said “I press…”
Question: Are you pressing? To press is to act upon with steadily applied weight or force. To fulfill your calling is not to sit idly by and just watch it drop in your lap. You have to apply pressure in the direction of your destiny, because nothing moves without pressure. Jesus even spoke of the pressure that Hell itself would undertake by those moving into their destiny, when He said, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” This literally means that Hell itself shall not be able to withstand the pressure applied by those busting through its gates!
To resist the devil so that he will flee is to return the pressure through the power of Christ in you! Fight back! Fight forward! Put the devil on the run! Resist the devil, and he will flee from you! You will always have to apply pressure to move forward, but if you run so that you may obtain, God will grant you the sweet cup of victory every time! PRESS ON!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill