and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,  but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:11-12 NIV

While walking down the cleaning products aisle today, I spied a can of room spray that said, "You will feel as if Spring has come."I thought: All I have to do is buy this can of artificial fragrances and chemicals and my life will be complete?

Somehow I didn't believe that. As we all know, ad slogans are an American concoction. Consumers will believe anything, some would say. But not this "been around the block too many times" consumer. Gullibility is not a New York trait. We are usually hard to convince.

Most restaurant chains will come to New York last because they know we are hard customers. We want things done the right way. Paul feels the same way about His walk with God. He knew Jesus paid for his sins and wrong doings so he wanted all God had for him. He knew like I do, God isn't finished working great character and love in us.

We have to be open to God loving us. When I first came to Jesus, I had no idea how deep His love was for me. The Holy Spirit made Himself real to me, and this awesome adventure continues. Why do I ever doubt that He has everything under control? I guess it comes from the world around me.

Our world today is so contrary to what God wants for us. Hostility, anger and outright hatred for other seems to be the way of many. Even our government officials have taken hold of this. We need to take hold of Jesus. He is the anchor for our souls.

It is not easy to press in for more of God. It's not as if He is trying to hide, on the contrary, He longs for us to push through the worldliness around us to experience more love, peace and joy. Silencing the voices around us that vy for our attention is something Christians have had to do from the beginning.

Again our friend the Apostle, is honest about his life. All pretense and formality is behind him as he gives us a glimpse of the Christian walk. What if he decided not to write from his heart? Maybe we wouldn't know what's normal for a follower of Jesus.

I thank God for truth written from the pen of this great man. I have a whole new respect for him since we started this study of Philippians. He seems to have a blend of steadfastness, and emotion, but there is always room for improvement!