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Pursuing the Ultimate Goal - Part 6 of 6

STAND FIRM

Philippians 4:1 - Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my jot and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

God has given us a game plan here from Paul and throughout the entire Bible of how we are to live.  We are to be bold...bold about who we are, bold in standing up for our beliefs, and bold for Jesus Christ!

We will face setbacks along the way.  They may come from confrontation with others or mistakes of our own accord but we are to continue to press on - "The blessing is in the pressing".  Michael Jordan has the following quote regarding perseverance:  "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I've lost almost 300 games.  26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.  I've failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed." 

In order for us to stand firm in our faith (or anything really) we must know what we believe in.  Think about it, if you love a sport, you read about it, study it, watch it.  Sports fans watch ESPN, drama people watch TV shows, newsies read articles in the paper and online.  We devote our time to knowing everything we can about the things we love and are passionate about it.  To know the Word, we have to study the Word.  If you are confronted with a question about an issue and don't know the answer, look it up in scripture.  If someone isn't willing to look up an answer to their question with you in the Bible or on a Christian website, then they really don't want to know the answer. 

As we prepare to stand firm in the Lord, we must remember what Charles Stanley has said, "The most important thing in your life, yesterday, today, and tomorrow is your relationship with Jesus Christ.

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