Just Keep Swimming...

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So lately I have been thinking about a passage in Philippians chapter 3:7-14. In fact it kind of reminds me of Dora in Finding Nemo...oh, I'm going somewhere with this worry. Things in my life have not been going exactly how I would like them too. In fact they have not gone anything like I would have planned them to in the past couple of weeks. I am okay, don't get me wrong. I don't want you to think I have been down and depressed or anything because that is NOT at all how it has been. BUT, it has not been all that ideal that is for sure. It makes me think of the scene in Finding Nemo with Marlin and Dora..........

Dory: Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do?

Marlin: No I don't wanna know.

Dory: [singing] Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.

Marlin: Dory, no singing.

Dory: [continuing] Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho. I love to swim. When you want to swim you want to swim. Marlin: Now I'm stuck with that song... Now it's in my head.

Dory: Sorry.

:) That just makes me smile...It reminds me of the next part of the passage in Philippians...

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Life is not always gonna go as we planned...sometimes it is going to get us down. Lately I have been losing things that to were in important. I have been losing some really great friends and it is really hard but I have to remember that those things, although great, are near rubbish compared to the things of the Lord. And my eyes, along with my brothers and sisters in Christ, should be on the Lord Jesus Christ..."forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." I find the word straining interesting. I like to look up the definitions to words so that is what I am going to do! :)

Straining: "to stretch beyond proper limit"

It won't always be easy and sometimes we might have to do things we do not enjoy and give up things we do. Sometimes we might feel like we are not going to make it and we may feel like we want to give up but the prize is at the end and once we reach that goal it will all be worth the strain!

So all you bloggers out there...and my TWO followers just remember this..Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me."

I pray that I can be like Paul and be encouraged that the while it would be better to be with Christ it is necessary for me to be here now with you and that together we can be of encouragement to one another as we press on together. Have a WONDERFUL day my blogger friends..."just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."