Today let’s press into the full call of God for our lives, the call to be hope-filled and wholly committed disciples. Pray: Jesus, help me count everything as loss compared to the joy of knowing you as Saviour. Show me how to surrender anything worthless that holds power in my heart. Increase my love for you. Reveal yourself to me in your sacrificial, resurrecting love.  (Inspired by Philippians 3:8-11) _When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”_ ~ Psalm 91:15–16 I imagine myself as a runner, pressing into a busy race, looking to win the prize… _Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained._ *~ Philippians 3:12–16* A holy life requires a daily pursuit of God’s presence. I enter Paul’s analogy today and think about the ways Christ Jesus has made me his own. I say again, “Thank you for saving me.” And I turn in my heart to what lies ahead: the practical realities of what is ahead of me this day and the wider vision God has given me for my life. I press into a particular place where I need the Holy Spirit to give revelation and understanding so that I can run towards the upward call of God today.  Ask: _Jesus, thank you that you are the author and the finisher of my faith. You are writing a true and beautiful story in my life. Thank you that you invite me to joyfully participate in your story. Will you give me the gifts and answers I need so that I can press into your calling today._ I pray for a friend who is trapped in the bitterness of past hurts, who cannot forget what is behind and is carrying the weight of unforgiveness or trauma. _Holy Spirit, healer of souls and memories, will you bring the peace of your presence to this place of pain today?_ *Jesus Christ has made me his own. I think of a playful story told often in my youth. A child made a gingerbread cookie. They loved it dearly, but it ran away, and into the walls of a bakery. They went into the bakery, bought their gingerbread cookie, and clutched it close, exclaiming, “Now you are truly mine! First I made you, and then I bought you.”* *I revel today in the way Christ Jesus has made me his own: first he made me, then he bought me. Even when I run away, he pursues me with love. I pray for fresh joy to encounter his love today with playful maturity.* Yield: I reflect on the way Olympic runners capture the hearts of the world. They press on for the goal, pursue the prize, give their whole lives to the run. _Holy Spirit, awaken in me a new passion to run in your name today. Let me see your love as the greatest and truest prize. Help me shake off any weights and run with this simple revelation: you run with me._ And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming day, the Lord who loves me says in the book of Romans: _Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation._ *~ Romans 5:2–4*