The Prize of the Upward Call

 "Brothers, 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." - Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

Just thinking about this... the 'prize of the upward call' is IN pressing on not looking back... it is in Christ Jesus who took the blame not in us blaming people (others, ourselves or God) in order to make sense of what happened in the past... the future and upward specifically.... not just outward... the upward call.

Yesterday might not have been what we wanted... the past may seem better than what we have today but we all have this great 'yes and amen' option. The gospel of grace gives us this new and living way.

"As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." - 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 ESV

"The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you." - Joel 2:24-25 ESV 

Let's press forward to what lies ahead together like logs burning brightly stacked together not as lone sputtering smoking branches extinguished and smothered by the wind... not as people looking back pointing fingers at those who seem to be at fault but as people who are in awe of the great God who promises an overflow or blessings in the future.

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What is the best day of the year?

I was at the physical therapist yesterday. It is one of those places where it is mostly just a big horseshoe shaped room and all of us are working and being worked on. One of the supervising physical therapist calls out to another therapists and says, 'Claudine' {FYI. That isn't her name or the name he said} 'Claudine, What is the best day of the year.' and she says something like, 'What? I don't know.' and he repeats the extra loud question. 'Come on... What do you think? What is the best day of the year?' 

She hesitates...

He says, 'Today. Today is... and when tomorrow comes that will be the best day of the year.'

She isn't playing along... she isn't hostile... it isn't that kind of place... it is an upbeat place on purpose but she isn't at his level of Rah! Rah! and is reluctant to pretend she is.

She joking says, 'I though it was my birthday.' and he says 'No. No. It's today.'

So I am laying there with my hip being worked on and it gets me thinking about the whole dynamic... my Pastor used to say, 'Today is the best day of my life.' not all the time or in that Rah! Rah! way but he said it and lived it out and at one point I believed it and said it by faith sometimes.

I started to talk to my physical therapist about what my Pastor used to say and what was being said in the place and how it can be annoying to hear that kind of talk when you are not in that same 'positive confession' mode of 'Today is going to be a great day'. We spoke a bit about that and how if someone said, 'Today is going to be the worst day of my life' that it wouldn't be so annoying and we might have compassion for them.

I miss being more positive. I'm convicted that i must live in a faith statement. Not in a delusional way. Not in a demanding way where I am forcing people to echo it but out loud in a way that draws others into in and gently challenges them.

God is good. Life is a gift. Our words spoken out loud are powerful... not to manifest reality... that is hogwash... we aren't 'gods' but we are clay vessels filled with treasure... our words can reveal that... when we are walking 'with' God that really is the best thing we can do. We can do it today and today really is the 'best day of the year' if our eyes are open to see it. 

I'm praying for some folks... some are living in a manic dream... others are detoxing from drugs.... some are bored... some are old and struggling with a lack of seeming productivity... the range of situations are wide and varied but we can walk with God which is humbling but also uplifting... we realize how little we know and see how marvelous others are... and eyes open to glory and tragedy... and today has great great potential.

So again I'm saying, 'Today is the best day of my life' I'm saying it out loud. Thank you God. Thank you for my Pastor, Dr Stevens, and the other men who have pastored me... thank you that i got to see this lived out... thank you for another day to annoy others with my positivity... hopefully in a humble and gently challenging way.