Day 1 – Monday, January 12, 2026 – One Thing: Singular Spiritual Focus
Summary
Reaching forward starts the way Paul said it: “one thing I do,” and that means a singular spiritual focus, not a life pulled in ten directions. Paul is not claiming spiritual amnesia, he is using athletic imagery, like an athlete who refuses to let the last play dictate the next play. The past does not get to steer the mental focus of the future, not past failures, not past wins, not old regrets, not even confidence in your own ability. Reaching forward is choosing what will be highest in your value system, because whatever is highest will quietly direct your time, your emotions, and your obedience. Most things you excel at require one focus, and the Christian life is no different. This week is a chance to practice “one thing” on purpose, not as a slogan, but as a disciplined direction of the heart.
Reflection Questions
What has been dominating my mental focus lately: something behind me, or Christ ahead of me?
Where do I feel divided, trying to hold on to competing values at the same time?
What would a “one thing” week look like if I treated prayer as essential, not optional?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I confess how easily my heart fragments. I let old memories, old wounds, old pride, and old fears talk too loudly. I do not want the past to dictate my future focus. Give me the grace to live with one thing, a singular spiritual focus that is anchored in You. Help me lay down distractions and excuses and re-center my desires. Teach me to reach forward with a steady mind, a soft heart, and real obedience, not just good intentions.
Action Steps
Write down one sentence describing your “one thing” for this year, then write one distraction you will remove today so that focus can actually happen.
Consider attending Prayer Night at Church.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:13
Luke 9:62
Psalm 27:4
Day 2 – Tuesday, January 13, 2026 – Change Your Value System: Count All Things Loss
Summary
Reaching forward requires a change in your value system, because values determine goals and goals determine outcomes. Paul ties “forgetting what is behind” to “counting all things loss,” and he even says he counts them as rubbish, not because everything is evil, but because the excellence of knowing Christ outweighs everything else by comparison. That comparison is what separates those who gain Christ from those who stall out spiritually while keeping everything else protected. Jesus gave the picture of treasure hidden in a field, a man sells all that he has because the greater treasure is worth it. Many people would sell everything for a guaranteed winning lottery ticket, but we hesitate to release lesser treasures for the Kingdom, which exposes what we really value. Today is about facing your actual value system honestly and letting Christ take the highest place without negotiation.
Reflection Questions
What do my habits reveal about what I value most, not what I say I value most?
What “good” thing has started demanding a “highest” place in my heart?
Where do I need to count something as loss so I can reach forward without being held back?
Prayer
Father, I want the treasure of Christ more than the comfort of keeping everything the same. Expose my true value system without letting me dodge it or explain it away. Forgive me for placing money, health, relationships, recreation, or myself above You in subtle ways. Teach me what it means to count lesser things as loss so I can gain the greater treasure without regret. Give me joy that makes surrender reasonable, and courage that makes obedience immediate.
Action Steps
Write down the top five things you chase for security or happiness, then circle the one that needs to move down so Christ is clearly first.
Consider attending Men’s and Women’s Bible Study at Church.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:8
Matthew 13:44
Luke 14:33
Day 3 – Wednesday, January 14, 2026 – Change Your Achievement Focus: Righteousness in Christ
Summary
When your values change, your achievement focus has to change, and Paul’s goals are clear: gain Christ and be found in Him. This is not about building your own righteousness or trying to earn a spiritual reputation, it is righteousness from God by faith. Christianity is a belief system that produces action, but it starts with believing what Jesus did at the cross and living out of that reality daily. “Be found in Him” carries the weight of a heavenly inspection, the understanding that God brings every work into judgment, including secret things, so being in Christ is not a casual label, it is safety and truth. That is why a Bible reading plan is not the finish line, because reading is meant to lead to gaining Christ, internalizing His purposes until they shape the way you think, respond, and choose. Today is a call to stop measuring spiritual life by outward performance and start measuring it by union with Christ.
Reflection Questions
Am I chasing spiritual activity, or am I truly trying to gain Christ?
Where have I relied on my own righteousness, my record, or my reputation?
If God inspected my inner life today, what would it reveal about what I am aiming for?
Prayer
Lord, I do not want to be impressive, I want to be found in You. Forgive me for trusting in my own effort and then calling it faith. Strengthen my belief in Your finished work and teach me to live as someone who has passed from death to life. Re-order my goals so I stop aiming at what cannot satisfy. Make my obedience flow from gratitude, not guilt, and make my spiritual disciplines lead to real union with You, not empty routine.
Action Steps
Write down one spiritual goal you will pursue this week that is about gaining Christ, not just completing a task, and write how you will know it is changing you.
Consider attending Wednesday Night Church.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:9
John 5:24
Ecclesiastes 12:14
Day 4 – Thursday, January 15, 2026 – Change Your Pain Filter: Fellowship of His Sufferings
Summary
You cannot reach forward with a changed value system and changed goals if you refuse to change your pain filter. Paul reaches for something most people avoid: the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Everyone wants resurrection power, but not everyone wants the fellowship of suffering, and that difference exposes whether faith is biblical Christianity or just comfort with religious language. Paul saw suffering as inheritance, not burden, as privilege, not penalty, and that mindset confronts our modern obsession with avoiding discomfort. We dislike waiting, restraint, boredom, misunderstanding, exertion, and confrontation, and then we act shocked when discipleship feels costly. Scripture teaches that suffering for Christ’s sake is granted, and that light affliction is working something in us, forming an eternal weight of glory. Today is about stopping the instinct to insulate pain and starting to ask what God is producing through it.
Reflection Questions
Where have I been treating discomfort like an emergency instead of a tool God can use?
What kind of suffering am I facing: consequences of my choices, or the cost of following Christ?
How would my attitude change if I believed this suffering is working something in me?
Prayer
Father, correct my pain filter. Forgive me for running from anything that feels hard and then calling it wisdom. Give me discernment to own what is the fruit of my decisions, and give me courage to embrace what is the cost of obedience. Teach me to suffer without bitterness and to endure without self-pity. Conform me to Christ in the way I respond under pressure, so that pain does not make me smaller but makes me steadier. Let the fellowship of His sufferings produce fruit of righteousness in me.
Action Steps
Write down one hardship you are facing, then write one way God might be using it to shape your character instead of simply remove your discomfort.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:10
Romans 8:17
2 Corinthians 4:16–17
Day 5 – Friday, January 16, 2026 – Leave Behind What Is Not Bathed in the Blood
Summary
Reaching ahead means leaving behind what is not bathed in the blood of Jesus, and that includes more than visible habits, it includes invisible mindsets. The subtle idols many people elevate are easy to name: money, health, spouse, kids, recreation, and self, and none of these are automatically evil, they are just not supposed to be highest. The problem is not having responsibilities, it is worshiping them, letting them define you and drive you. “Forgetting what is behind” is not denial, it is refusing to let the past dictate the future, and that includes past achievements that make you coast and past failures that make you quit. Reaching forward is learning to love good things without letting them control who you are, and learning to grow from mistakes without letting them brand you. This is what it hookup and connection stores them at the internal level.
Reflection Questions
What mindset has been debilitative in me lately: control, condemnation, comparison, or comfort?
Where have I been tempted to worship something good instead of worshiping Christ?
What part of my past keeps trying to dictate my future focus, and why do I keep letting it?
Prayer
Jesus, I want my heart clean and my loyalties clear. Forgive me for elevating lesser loves into ruling loves. Wash me where my thinking has drifted, where my desires have become demanding, and where my identity has been tied to things that can be taken away. Help me love the people and responsibilities You have given me without turning them into idols. Teach me to leave behind what is not bathed in Your blood and to reach forward with freedom and steadiness.
Action Steps
Write down one thing you need to stop idolizing, then write one sentence of truth you will repeat when that idol tries to reclaim the highest place.
Ladies Consider Attending the Steadfast Women’s Event.
Scriptures
Luke 9:62
Philippians 3:13–14
1 John 3:2–3
Day 6 – Saturday, January 17, 2026 – By Any Means: Press On With a Heaven-Shaped Mindset
Summary
Paul’s mindset is not casual: “by any means” he intends to attain to the resurrection, and that urgency shapes how he lives today. He admits he has not already attained and is not already perfected, so he presses on, refusing to rest on spiritual laurels. This is not a goal you complete early, it is a daily reality until death. Mature believers live like they have already received the inheritance while still working like they have not finished the race yet, not striving to be loved, striving because they are loved. This is the kind of faith that can say, “None of these things move me,” because it does not count life dear to itself, it wants to finish with joy and faithfulness. A heaven-shaped mindset changes what you tolerate, what you pursue, and what you refuse to compromise. Today is also a day to prepare your heart for worship, because reaching forward includes coming to Sunday ready, not drifting in distracted.
Reflection Questions
Where have I been coasting spiritually instead of pressing on?
What does “by any means” look like in my actual schedule and choices this week?
If eternity is real, what change needs to happen tonight so I come into Sunday with focus?
Prayer
Father, give me an immoveable faith that presses on. Forgive me for settling into comfort and calling it maturity. Put heaven back in front of my eyes so my decisions regain urgency and clarity. Strengthen my discipline without making me prideful, and strengthen my humility without making me passive. Help me prepare for worship tomorrow with a clean heart, a focused mind, and a readiness to obey whatever You say.
Action Steps
Write down one “by any means” discipline you will practice this week, then write why it matters for your soul and your future, not just your image.
Men Consider Attending the Immoveable Men’s Breakfast.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:12
Acts 20:24
Romans 8:18
Day 7 – Sunday, January 18, 2026 – Reach Forward Together: Come Ready for Worship
Summary
Today is a weekly opportunity to choose the “one thing” again, singular spiritual focus, reaching forward instead of living backward. Forgetting what is behind is not pretending it never happened, it is refusing to let it dictate the mental focus of your future. Reaching forward means your value system is changing, counting all things loss compared to the excellence of knowing Christ, and your achievement focus is changing, aiming to gain Christ and be found in Him rather than building your own righteousness. It also means your pain filter is changing, recognizing that fellowship of suffering is not proof God is absent, it is often proof God is shaping you. Reaching forward becomes a mindset that says, “I press on,” and “by any means,” not because you are chasing approval, but because you belong to Jesus. Come into worship ready to hear and ready to respond, because momentum is built by obedience, not just inspiration.
Reflection Questions
What “behind me” thing have I been letting shape my attitude, identity, or obedience?
What is one value that needs to move down so Christ is clearly highest in my life?
What would it look like to show up ready to obey, not just ready to evaluate?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, prepare me for worship today. Remove dullness, distraction, and resistance. Give me a heart that receives Your Word with humility and responds with obedience. Reset my value system so You are highest, and reset my goals so I am reaching toward what is eternal. Strengthen my endurance so I do not quit when discipleship feels costly. Let today’s service produce real change in me, and let my week reflect that I am truly reaching forward.
Action Steps
Before service, write down one thing you need to leave behind and one thing you are reaching for, then ask God for one specific way to obey what you hear today.
Attend Church Services at 9 & 11 AM.
Scriptures
Philippians 3:13
Colossians 3:1–2
John 5:24
