The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Philippians 3:13-15, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.”

Our last Grands Letter concluded with the assertion that “Jesus is all that’s worth keeping”; therefore, adhering to His upward call is and ought to be that for which we are striving. Paul clearly admits that he has yet to lay hold of the fullness of Christ, which he is seeking. Yet, he is pressing onward in faith and trust to that blessed end.

With his goal clearly in mind, Paul puts behind him all things of the past. We can identify all-too- well with our own past. There are negative things that work against us –even things we’ve confessed as sin, and of which we have been forgiven. But they rise up in our minds in an effort to defeat us from achieving the fullness of Christ, which is our ultimate goal.

Positive things from the past work against us as well. In retrospect, we recall some victories that delight us. We tend to view those “victories” as our victories, not the LORD’s. When we think of ourselves as the ones who possessed the power of such victories, we mentally remove Christ Jesus from His rightful place and install ourselves as the victors.

Thus, all things of the past –defeats and victories—must be laid aside. This is a new and different situation. The word “perfect” (???????) that Paul uses in verse 15 above, does not indicate that we (or his readers) are without sin; rather, it signals maturity, a growing process –one that admits that there is yet much more to becoming like Christ than has been previously known. So, let us be humble in our attitude, and if anything offers us a contrary attitude, the LORD will identify that to us and set us again on the right track –the track that leads us to Him!

Think about it! What have you got to lose? And you’ve got everything to gain!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”