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Monday, December 13, 2010

In Hot Pursuit

It has been a very atypical day at work. I was scheduled to have a full day of clients but from the time I arrived this morning, my clients have either forgotten their appointment or run into some unforseen circumstance. As of this writing I have one more client I am expecting for the day and I'm unsure whether I will be striking out all together. I could easily see this as a disaster and  fret about the fact that I've lost a lot of money today. But instead I receive it as God clearing my schedule so we can spend some time together, I confess that the past few days have been spiritually dry as I continue to wonder what God is up to with leading us to a new church home. In this "free" time today the Lord was able to minister to me through the words of Saint Paul in Philippians 3:12-14. Paul talks about "pressing on" to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him. (Philippians 3:12) The idea Paul is conveying is that of chasing after something and in turn being chased after by the Lord. It is the same Greek word Paul uses in verse 6 in Philippians 3 when he speaks of "persecuting" the church. Paul is in this case, chasing after in a negative sense God's people to apprehend them. But the Lord changes that which Paul is pursuing from something that will bring destruction to something that will bring life. Chasing after the Lord will not bring disappointment in the end. I realized that we are only willing to chase after that which we truly desre, that which we are truly attracted to, that which has the power to draw us in unimaginable ways. Unlike the writer of Ecclesiastes who laments, "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14) To chase after the wind is to pursue futility. To try and grasp something you cannot see or hold on to. On the other hand when we chase after Jesus, He reveals Himself to us in various ways and we can hold on to Him through the promises in His word but more important through His Spirit that dwell within us. You can't get any closer to Him than that! It is equally awesome to know that God will pursue us until we accomplish what He has prepared for us in advance to do. (Ephesians 3:20) In commenting on the passage in Philippians, author and speaker Beth Moore states that "What God calls us into will stretch us but we must walk in it." We see with our eyes (the revelation), we press on (stretching to grab it with our hands), and we walk in it. (capturing and being captured by the One who has called us.) So what are you chasing after? My prayer to the Lord as He leads me through this new season of my life is to chase after or pursue what will stretch me to grow, to chase after and pursue what will help His people to grow, but most of all to chase after and pursue that which will bring God glory. May the Lord place me with the people who need the gifts He's given to me. Even if it doesn't look like what I imagine, I know it is for my good and for His glory.
Peace,
Pastor Sheree

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