Keep Pressing On

Posted by Victoria Osteen

You know how some people just always look like they have it all together in life? One thing I've learned is that trials and difficulties affect all people. No one gets a free ride or a "hall pass" from challenges in this life. If someone is making it, if they are on top of the mountain, it's because they are pressing.

In Philippians 3:13, Paul said it like this, "There is one thing that I do, forgetting the past, I press forward to what lies ahead." He was saying, "I don't care what's happened, I'm pressing forward. I don't want to become complacent. I don't want to get stuck; I'm moving forward."

This isn't always easy. In fact, it's a fight. There is effort involved in pressing on, but with effort comes success. Resistance will come against us all, but we have the choice to either stand still or fight life through!

Scripture calls this the fight of faith—and it's a good fight. Do you know what makes a good fight? When you're on the winning side! You know that you're winning as long as you keep on going—keep pressing, keep praying, keep declaring, keep forgiving, keep obeying His Word. You have to stay in the game if you are going to win!

The enemy will try all day long to take you out by reminding you of what happened in your past. He'll remind you of every time you made a mistake or said something wrong. He'll attack hard on the battlefield of your mind. But do you know how to stand against those negative thoughts when they come? By simply speaking the truth of God's Word. See, you can't speak one thing and think about something else. Your thoughts have to follow your words. That's why Matthew 6:31 says, "Take no thought saying (what shall we eat or what shall we wear)" because when you say something, you are taking hold of it in your heart. If you speak words of worry, you will take hold of worry. If you speak God's promises, you take hold of God's promises.

Today, I encourage you to take hold of the good things God has in store for your future. Keep your eye on the prize. Focus on speaking the Word of God over yourself and your family every single day. Take hold of the truth. Bind it to your heart. Let it nourish and refresh your soul. As you press forward, you'll receive the victory and blessing God has in store for you!

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NKJV)