Joy in Pursuing Christ
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who would you consider the greatest athlete of all time? What do you think made this person great?
โข Are you the kind of person who would participate in a game even without a prize? Recall an instance explaining this.
โข Recall a time when you had to do something different (e.g., move to a different city or change jobs) but had a hard time because you preferred what was comfortable. What happened?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉโ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ . . . ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ดโ๐ญ๐ฌ
As a church leader, the apostle Paul had many accomplishments. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 are attributed to him. The book of Acts describes the crucial role he played in planting and establishing many of the early churches. He was unstoppable in advancing Godโs kingdom. But the verses Paul penned to the Philippians show us that he considered all of these accomplishments as worthless and insignificant compared to the overwhelming joy he felt in knowing Christ. He was set on achieving only one thingโto gain Christ and be found in Him. In this lesson, we will look at how we can persevere in our pursuit of Christ as demonstrated by Paul.
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ.
๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ: ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ . . . ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ฏ
Paul knew that he hadn't yet received his prize. There was only one course of actionโto press on. He did this by forgetting what lies behind. Like Paul, we have to stop looking at the things in our past. Keeping our eyes on whatโs behind us will hinder us from seeing whatโs before us. Whether they be accomplishments or failures, the things in the past can keep us from stepping forward. How did God enable you to overcome something in the past that kept you from pursuing His purpose in your life?
๐ฎ. ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ.
. . . ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ . . . ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ฏ
Paul understood that not yet receiving the prize meant there were greater things waiting for him in the days aheadโmore of God for him to know, more opportunities to live out his freedom in Christ, and more people waiting to experience the same freedom. Like Paul, we need to strain forward, exerting effort to take those necessary steps, in faith that God is leading us to accomplish His will. Sometimes, itโs not the things of the past that keep us from moving forward but the comfort of the present. Paul encourages us to strain forward and continue our diligent pursuit of Christ. Why must we not be comfortable where we are?
๐ฏ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ฎ๐น.
. . . ๐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ฐ
The reason Paul was able to overcome suffering and have joy was that his eyes were set on the prize. His prize was not anything he could accomplish on earth for God, but God Himself. Since he surrendered his life to Christ, Paulโs motivation for everything he did for God was to pursue Him until the day he would meet Him in heaven. In the same way, we are to focus our eyes on Jesus. Regardless of what we are facing at this time, we can overflow with joy knowing that they are all temporary. We can continue pursuing Christ no matter what because we know that in the end, we will gain Him for eternity. How have you experienced the joy of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ and how did this change the way you live your life?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you anything in your past or present that hinders you from moving forward. Talk to someone who can help you and pray with you to overcome this.
โข How would setting your sights on the ultimate goal of gaining Christ change a specific area in your life? What is something you can do differently starting this week in line with this?
โข Thank God for the enduring joy that comes from pursuing Christ. Ask Him to give you opportunities to share that joy to your family and friends this week.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for the joy that comes from being in a right relationship with Him. Ask Him for the grace to leave behind the things in the past, whether good or bad, and continue to pursue Him.
โข Ask God to check your motive and reveal your heart behind doing things for His kingdom. Pray that, like Paul, nothing will be more important for you than knowing Christ.
โข Pray that God will reveal to you someone who may be having a hard time forgetting the past. Ask God for a word of encouragement you can share to help the person move forward.