One of the greatest memories of my athletic career is from 1987 when our Class B high school beat one of our state’s Class A powerhouses in girls’ basketball.  We won that game by only three points. We didn’t win a trophy or a medal.   We didn’t even make it to state playoffs that year, but we beat this one unbeatable team. At the time, it was my greatest achievement.  I would “forever” be known as a member of the team who defeated a formidable opponent with a career record of 60 and 2.

 In all honesty, who really remembers that game or our victory?  What significance does it hold for anyone but those of us playing in that game so many, many years ago?  It is a precious memory of victory for my teammates and me but, it is over and done with.  It is a past prize of fleeting value. There is no legacy from that victory which I can pass on to my children.

Now, all these years later, I have in my sights a future prize of eternal value.  A future reward and blessing which I can only imagine.  A victory which is mine to live now, in Christ, with a prize more precious than any earthly reward I have ever attained.  THIS prize is a legacy I can build upon and pass down through generations to follow. As Paul says in Philippians, it is also a prize of which I am yet to take hold of. But I am pressing on toward it and it is for this reason I have been called.

What blessed joy comes with the thought of straining on toward what is ahead.  God has called me, and He has called you.  Our Heavenly Father chose us to press on daily toward the goal of winning the heavenly prize found only in Christ Jesus.  I don’t know about you, but I make mistakes, and I take my eye off the prize.  But I learn from those mistakes and refocus on the prize because the future reward is, without question, the ONLY achievement I can gain with true lasting value.  It is eternal peace.  It is blessings and life for future generations.  It is my destiny in Christ Jesus.  It is my hope secure.  I can think of nothing which compares to this prize, and I praise God for it.

“Brothers and sisters, 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 it ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 NIV

WITHDRAW weekly devotional

Author Kami R. Lobner

“Writing has always been a gift to me from God.  There is no better avenue for me to communicate the true depths of my inner most thoughts and feelings. I was encouraged by my family and friends to write…anything…but to just write.  So, I prayed about what to write and felt a calling to write daily devotionals.  God has used my gift to put on paper what His Scripture means to me; my hope is that what I write hits a chord with those who choose to read the devotionals.  I often include a short prayer in the devotionals I write.  These prayers are meant to encourage and perhaps challenge us to pursue God’s Presence through scripture reading, meditating on God’s Word, bible studies and fellowship with other believers. 

God has been good to me and to my family.  I sincerely hope something God led me to put on paper provokes a thought in you or perhaps is that “little thing” you were needing to hear.  None of these writings are from me, but from God and His gentle guidance to put thought and prayer on paper. 

May God truly bless you!”