Untitled Sermon (59)

STAYING FOCUS ON WHAT’S BEFORE US

INTRODUCTION:

THE BIGGEST ROAD BLOCK IN AN CHRISTIAN LIFE IS MOVING BEYOND PAST MISTAKES.

IT BECOME HARD TO MOVE ON IF YOUR PAST HAS BECOME YOUR FUTURE.

THE KEY TO OVERCOMING YOUR PAST IS YOU MUST STAY FOCUS ON WHAT’S BEFORE YOU.

THERE 3 INGREDIENTS ON STAYING FOCUS ON WHAT’S BEFORE US.

FORGETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND.

REACHING FORTH UNTO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEFORE.

PRESS TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.

A. FORGETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND.

PHILIPPIANS 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”

IN ORDER FOR US TO STAY FOCUS WE MUST LOOK AHEAD INSTEAD OF LOOKING BACK.

THE REASON FOR THIS IS FORGETTING IS AN ONGOING PROCESS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN OUR LIVES.

WE WILL ALWAYS BE FACED WITH DIFFERENT CHALLENGES , BUT IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE FORGET OUR PAST FAILURES, OUR PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS OR OUR PAST HURTS , OR WE WILL BE STUCK RIGHT WHERE WE AT.

THIS WILL NOT ALLOW US TO CONTINUE TO GROW OR MOVE ON IN THE LORD.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR AN BELIEVER IS TO MOVE FORTH IN HIS THOUGHTS. THOSE PAST MEMORIES. MEMORIES THAT SAY,

I WISH I COULD TAKE BACK WHAT I DONE, OR IF I HAD A CHANCE TO DO IT OVER AGAIN, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT DIFFERENT.

THESE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS WILL KEEP YOU FROM GOING FORTH.

THE ONE THING, I KNOW YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT’S BEEN DONE, BUT YOU CAN LEARN FROM IT SO YOU DO NOT REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKE.

THE REMEDY FOR MOVING ON IS FIRST YOU NEED TO GET YOUR LIFE RIGHT WITH THE LORD.

YOU NEED HIS FORGIVENESS, SO THAT YOU CAN BE DELIVER FROM YOUR PAST.

ONCE YOU EXPERIENCE THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD, YOUR PAST WOULD ONLY BE PART OF YOUR MINISTRY.

WHAT CAN STOP YOU FOR FORGETTING YOUR PAST IS WHEN YOU HAVE NOT FORGIVEN YOURSELF.

LUKE 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

LOOKING BACK PUTS MORE ATTENTION ON YOU, BUT GOING FORTH YOU PUT YOUR SIGHTS ON GOD.

B. REACHING FORTH UNTO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEFORE.

PAUL GOAL WAS TO REACH FOR PERFECTION, AND THE ONLY WAY HE COULD ATTAIN THIS IS BY REACHING FORTH.

EVEN IF HE HAD NOT REACH IT YET.

PAUL WAS DETERMINE NOT TO GO BACK TO THOSE THINGS THAT DID NOT BRING ANYTHING TO HIS LIFE.

WHEN WE LOOK BACK WE THOUGHT PEOPLE WHO WAS IN OUR LIVES WAS GOOD FOR US, ONLY TO FIND OUT THEY DID NOT BRING ANYTHING TO OURS LIVES THAT WOULD HAVE POINTED US TO CHRIST.

PAUL LOOKED AT HIS LIFE AS A RELAY RACE, WHERE IN ORDER FOR HIM TO REACH HIS GOAL, HE HAD TO STRAIN WITH EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO REACH THAT GOAL.

TO REACH THE FINISH LINE IN THIS CHRISTIAN WALK, YOU GOING TO HAVE FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE.

TO REACH FORTH IS TO STRETCH OUT OR PUT FORTH A BODY PART..

MEANING YOU MUST EXTEND YOUR ARM TO GRAB YOUR FUTURE AND BRING IT INTO YOUR PRESENT, SO YOUR PAST WOULD BE JUST YOUR PAST.

IN AN RELAY RACE THE RUNNER REACH OUT THE BATON IN FRONT OF HIM, NOT IN BACK OF HIM, SO THAT THE FRONT RUNNER CAN GO FORTH AND NOT BACKWARDS OR HE WILL LOOSE A STEP.

EVERY TIME WE REACH BACK AND DIG UP THINGS FROM OUR PAST, WE ARE BRING BACK TO LIFE THAT OLD MAN.

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

C. PAUL SAID I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.

PAUL WAS SAYING EVEN WHEN I DON’T FEEL LIKE SERVING , I GIVE MY BEST EFFORT TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

WE MUST STAY FOCUS AND KEEP ON PRESSING FROWARD NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THE ROAD MAY GET.

THE PRIZE IS RELATED TO THE EFFORT WE PUT INTO WORKING OUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST JESUS.

IT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST JESUS OVER OUR LIFETIME THAT RESULTS IN A HEAVENLY PRIZE.