Exertion of enough physical force to change something’s shape. A device for applying pressure can be called a press. In ancient times there were press gangs who forced people into service. Don’t drink from a mug of beer unless you can see the bottom. Otherwise, you may be pressed into the military for accepting a coin dropped in your drink. I do not believe that tradition to press you into service is still practiced but who knows? Maybe, we should all take precautions. Press is also a whole industry of people who work for the media like news reporters. A press release was issued for my new book “Sticks and Stones” which you can find by a few key strokes on Google. The word press has many meanings as you can see but have you ever considered being pressed toward a higher prize?
Paul considered all his attributes in his past a failure, loss or sewer trash compared to his discovery of his higher calling. He discovered righteousness not by his own but by forces that were applied to him that changed his shape. He was pressed into a new shape or creation. The transformative powers that changed him into a new creation can also change us. We never really reach our full potential, but we can stretch to reach new goals, with this power. Some may believe pressure to be shaped into something new is stressful. I believe it is only stressful, if we fail to let go of the things we see with our own eyes. It becomes a relief if we look to the unseen. That is faith! Norman Vincent Peale said in his booklet called “Thought Conditioners”, “Every person, if he is to have mental health and live successfully, must move away from past failures and mistakes and go forward without letting them be a weight upon him.” I say that even past successes can hold us back from future accomplishments in life. We should never give up on the goal which is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. One bible version reads, “The one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians3:13,14) Please read more to see how success according to the world, may prevent us from greater success according to the world to come.
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