DON’T LOOK BACKWARD

Phil 3:13-14 RSV  “Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; 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.”

Same verse in Living Translation.  “No dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear in this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.”

DON’T LOOK FORWARD

Matt 6:34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

BUT LOOK UPWARD

Isaiah 26:3-4  “Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.  Trust in the Lord for ever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”

What a wonderful promise to take with us into the new year.  That Jesus is our rock, in whom we can hide, who will protect us and in whom we can take refuge.

Psalm 92:15b  “…he is my rock”

1Sam 2:2b  “…there is no rock like our God.”

Psalm 18:2  “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge…”

Psalm 71:3  “Be thou to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress.”