Friday, December 15, 2017

A Different View




This is the last entry of 2017 for fiveminutefriday.com
The word is “different” In between the //s is 5 minutes. Read on if you so desire.


//One thing I have a problem with is when people list their own achievements. Paul was someone who had the best of everything and strived to give it all up for the cause of knowing Christ. Okay,  my problem has always been,  if you give it up,  count all loss for something,  but at least you had it to begin with,  then you are winning on both ends. Am I the only one thinking this way?

Have you ever read a book that is way above your level of understanding? I mean because you want to? I am at present. I sit with the book and dictionary side by side and write a list of words and their definitions. I read and re-read,  till it makes sense. In doing this,  I am beginning to see the juxtaposition in Paul's words,  and am a little more compassionate of his position. I am taking a different view,  so much so,  that I have chosen my one verse for 2018.

Phil 3:13 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, //

Behind Paul was all he knew,  his upbringing, status, education, passion,  and his blameless position as a Pharisee. When he penned these words he was imprisoned. What good would any of this be now, yet he clearly explains he has not attained.

Behind me is all I don't know. It is just as difficult to rely on your lack of something as it is your supply. Christ asks that we do neither. The goal is to “know Christ and the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings…”Phil 3:10

My word for 2018 has not changed. It is hope. Whereas my verse for this year was Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,  declares the Lord,  plans to prosper you and not to harm you,  to give you a future and a hope.”,  I feel Phil 3:13 follows that perfectly for me. To know more what Christ wants me to know will give me a greater experience of hope than ever realized before. Practically speaking it does not mean I am setting out to be a scholar,  haha. It does however mean to me that the excuses relied on in the past are no longer acceptable to carry into the future.

Did God use my chosen verse in my life this year? Did I prosper? Not in ways I may have expected. Did He harm me? There were times I questioned His purposes and felt abandoned. Phil 3:14, 15 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore,  and many as are perfect, (mature) have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude,  God will reveal that also to you.”

Everyone grows and matures at a different rate. What my eyes see and my ears hear can be different than yours. It is the heart God looks at and works through to make His ways known. There will always be much I don't know and things I do know and am still learning. Thank God He never says it's too late, you're too old, or you're too unreachable. That is hope!

5 comments:

  1. I pray that Hope will be a prophetic and fulfilled word for you, Mary!

    For me...well, at the end of hope and on the other side of despair, I have a word...a phrase, really...for 2018.

    "The good may die young, but badass lives forever."

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  2. Oh Nary thank you for sharing these thoughts. I think it is so important for all of us to grow more humble each day as we lean more on Christ for everything. Merry Christmas! Looking forward to connecting more after the celebration of His birth.

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  3. My apologies for the n. Mary, thank you again for this post.

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  4. No problem Julie. Thanks for commenting!

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