Taking Hold of God’s Purpose

Philippians 3:12-16 God has made each of us unique and has a special plan and a purpose for each one of us. As in Paul’s life it is a plan that unfolds day by day. Paul knew from the start of his new life in Christ, that he was to be an apostle to the gentiles; that is, he was to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who were not Jews. How that was to work out on a day to day basis is the pressing toward the mark that he is talking about in this passage. Life is made up of specifics, they are not handled in general. Paul’s call was to the gentiles, but that took him through three missionary journeys, a trip to Rome, and a number of imprisonments. The details of these worked out through his prayers, the churches prayers and obedience to the voice of the Spirit as he faced each individual circumstance. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that, “we are God’s workmanship , created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God created in advance for us to do" Perhaps the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” is more than just a prayer for supplies. Maybe included in that ought to be a daily plea for the roadmap of God's plan for that day. I wonder how many opportunities we’ve missed or how many people we’ve failed to tell because we haven’t paid attention to God’s plan for that day. Will we lose our individual personality if we focus on God’s details to such an extent? No, because it is in this way, we find out who we really are. Verse 15, “all of us who are mature should take such a view of things.” All who come to Christ are called into the ministry. Not necessarily to a professional position behind a pulpit, but in the context of whatever calling you’ve found yourself in. Live up to all you have attained in Christ.