One day comes and another goes,  one year ends and another begins...

In the midst of it all, we experience both failures and successes.  Sometimes our successes outnumber our failures - and sometimes they don't.  But no matter what we've done or what outcomes we have seen in the past, one thing must be remembered - THERE IS MORE.

Whether we've had loads of success or loads of failure - we must keep pressing on to MORE. We cannot afford to camp out on either our successes or our failures. There is more ground to lay hold of. 

And where failure is concerned, the only real failure that exists is to quit pressing on.  As long as we continue to press toward GOD and pursue His plans and His ways with all our heart, then we have not failed.

 "Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."   - Hebrews 10.38

Verse 39 continues by saying "but we are not of them who draw back [to ruin, loss, unbelief],  but we are of them who believe..."

It is only when we draw back and stop pressing on toward the things of God that we fail.  Quitting  is what causes us to fail.  Hebrews 10.35-36 says  "do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise."

Don't cast away your confidence.  Philippians 1.6 tells us to BE CONFIDENT of this very thing: that He who has begun a good work in you WILL COMPLETE IT until the day of Jesus Christ.  You can be confident and sure that God won't stop developing and perfecting His good work in you until it's completed.  Even right up to the time of Jesus' return, He will continue completing His work in you.  So don't cast away your confidence - it carries great reward.

 "You have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive... what is promised."   (Hebrews 10.36 AMP)

Without that endurance, continuing to press on in God, we won't accomplish His will nor receive what is promised (His good work being completed in our life).  But if we keep pressing on and don't cast away our fearless confidence in Him, we will fulfill all He has for us.

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; BUT I PRESS ON, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."       - Philippians 3.12

The phrase "press on" in this verse is from the Greek word dioko, and means to pursue, follow after, ensue, press toward.  Dioko also appears in verse 14 of Philippians 3 - "I press toward [dioko] the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

It is this glorious call (invitation) of God calling us upward, for which Jesus has laid hold of us.  So we must press on - pursue, follow after, press toward - and  lay hold of this call for which He has also apprehended us.

But we can only press on to the degree that we let go of what is behind us.  The Apostle Paul wrote in verse 13:  "I do not count myself to have apprehended (laid hold of) but one thing, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  I PRESS..."

We cannot grasp what is ahead of us if we are still holding on to what's behind us.  We must let go and strip off everything that would hinder or slow us down (mentally, physically, or spiritually), so that we can run the race set before us.

 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only ONE receives the prize?  Run in such a way that you may OBTAIN IT... Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty (without definite aim).  Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air."     - I Corinthians 9.24,26

We must run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. Don't run your race in life with uncertainty.  Run in such a way that you fully intend on obtaining the prize.  Don't quit before you reach your finish line. Press on until the good work God began in you is completed.

Jesus said that "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the [Word] to fail."  (Luke 16.17)  Everything else is subject to failure - but not one letter of God's Word will ever fail.  And when His Word and His purpose is what you're pressing toward, you will not fail.

A wonderful minister once said that Purpose has everything to do with getting to the finished line. The greatest purpose is the one that is attached to God's heart. A person of purpose is not someone who never comes under attack - but a person of purpose fights back and keeps pressing on toward God's purpose. Purpose is what will anchor you.

We were not created to be listless, purposeless beings. The Spirit of God charted a divine destiny for every one of us.  God is a God of details and specifics. He doesn't do anything without purpose.  And if you will seek Him and trust Him, He will guide you in every detail of your life.

Psalm 136.16 says that before we even existed, God recorded every day of our life in His book - every moment was laid out.  Before even one day of our life was lived, He had every detail of our life intricately planned.

So is everything that has happened in our life what God planned for us?

No. God and His plans are complete and without fault. But, we do have an adversary whose ambition is to frustrate God's plan for our life. And also we and others connected to God's plan don't always cooperate with the blueprint He has laid out.   However, when we diligently seek and follow God and His ways, the more we will experience life in the way He has planned for us.  He is ready to lead us in every detail of our life if we will permit Him to.  If we will walk according to His purposes, He will turn around in our favour those things that have gone awry.  (Rom. 8.28)

Ephesians 2.10 (AMP) says "We are God's own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew that we may do those good works which God predestined  (planned beforehand) for us, taking paths which He prearranged ahead of time, THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM, [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

We must take the paths which He prearranged for us to walk in.  There is a prescribed path for the race set before us.  There may be a number of other paths that seem to lead to the finish line. Perhaps you have found yourself on one of those paths, only to find out that it deviates from the goal somewhere along the way.

Only God's prescribed path will take you to the finish line.   If you've gotten off course, don't lose heart or give up. The wonderful thing about the mercy and grace of God is that when you and I repent for where we've gone wrong and trust Him, the Holy Spirit is right there to place us back on His path again, and take up where we left off.  We do have to trust Him to do it - to show us His path and then follow it.  Many times when we get off course, there is a tendency to lose hope of ever being able to get back to the path we ought to be on. That's why we have to press on. Keep the goal in mind and press toward God - trusting Him to lead you to it. He won't fail you, and you won't fail if you keep pressing toward Him.

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."    - Matthew 11.12 NIV

One thing you and I must realize is that in order for us to obtain what God has for us in this life (and in the life to come), we must be spiritually aggressive.   Being spiritually aggressive has nothing to do with our personality or temperament make up. If we have been born- again, then the inherent nature of our recreated spirit is to be spiritually aggressive - to be fully active in the spirit - All we have to do is yield to what's already inside.

Matthew 11.12 in the Amplified Bible says - "the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force as a precious prize - a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion."

Violent men seize it by force as a precious prize...

How do you win a race?  You "seize it by force as a precious prize" - running hard toward that finish line with every ounce of energy you've got.  That is how we will win the Race of Life.  That is how we'll lay hold of the high calling of God for our life and fulfill the work of His Kingdom.  That is how we will succeed and not fail.  By continuing to press on toward Him and His Word - it will not fail.

Remember that there's MORE to lay hold of, more of Him to lay hold of.  Throughout all eternity there will never cease to be more of God and more of His Life to press toward.

So don't stop, don't quit, don't give up, don't draw back.  Be confident that the good work God has begun in you WILL (without a doubt) BE COMPLETED.