Philippians 3:13–14 (NRSVUE)

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

I press on toward what is ahead.

Frederick Buechner, from Wishful Thinking

"The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

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Philippians 3:10–11 (NRSVUE)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

In my suffering, Christ is with me.

Nicholas Wolterstorff, from Lament for a Son

"God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The one who suffers beside us."

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Philippians 3:10 (NRSVUE)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

I surrender in order to know You.

Brennan Manning, from Abba's Child

"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion."

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Philippians 3:8–9 (NRSVUE)

I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ.

In losing, I find what truly lasts.

Richard Rohr, from Falling Upward

"The supposed achievements of the first half of life have to fall apart and show themselves to be wanting in some way, or we will not move further. Why would we?"

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Philippians 3:7–8 (NRSVUE)

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

I release what I once held as gain.

Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation

"To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell."

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Psalm 84:11–12 (NRSVUE)

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

God withholds no good thing from me.

George Herbert, from The Pulley

"When God at first made man, having a glass of blessings standing by,

let us, said he, pour on him all we can."

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Psalm 84:10 (NRSVUE)

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

One day in your presence is enough.

C.S. Lewis, from The Weight of Glory

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures,

fooling about with drink and sex and ambition

when infinite joy is offered us,

like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum

because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."

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Psalm 84:5–7 (NRSVUE)

Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

Strength rises in me as I walk.

Eugene Peterson, from A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

"The life of faith is not a sprint but a long obedience in the same direction."

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