ON EARTH AS IS IN HEAVEN
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Philippians 3:12 NKJV
Many have misunderstood prayer and purpose to be the work of commanding heaven to fulfill the desires of earth.
But kingdom living is not about issuing declarations from below upward. It is about coming into agreement with what is already settled in heaven and living it out on earth. Paul’s words in Philippians reflect this reality. He is not striving to create something new; he is reaching for something eternal that was already purposed before time. His pursuit is not innovation but alignment.
He is running toward the very thing Christ laid hold of him for—the divine purpose that existed before his first breath, the same divine vision that was active even in the days when he opposed Christ. This is not Paul’s own doing. It is the mercy of the God who “calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17 NKJV), who formed Paul in the womb with a calling in mind (Jeremiah 1:5), and who mapped out his future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
Your life, too, is not a blank canvas. It is a revelation waiting to be discovered. The striving and weariness we often feel in the Christian life comes when we try to invent identity rather than inherit it. But in Christ, we are not working toward a personal dream; we are walking out a heavenly vision. Child of God, make it your life’s pursuit to know Him. The more you behold Christ, the more you will understand yourself—not by fleshly introspection, but by the Spirit’s illumination. You were made with purpose.
The most powerful way to live is not to chase what seems good, but to align with what is already God.
Prayer: Father, I thank You that You laid hold of me with purpose before I even knew You. Help me to cease striving in my own strength and instead walk in step with the Spirit. Teach me to pray from revelation, not desperation—to declare what You have shown in heaven, not what I have imagined on earth. Lord, reveal Yourself to me afresh each day, that I may see who I truly am in You. Let my life be a living reflection of Your will done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• Jeremiah 1:5
• John 8:58
