I Wanna Be Like Mike

I Wanna Be Like Mike

Could you picture if my goal in life was trying to be as good as Michael Jordan. I would never get there. But the fact that I could never be like Mike did not keep me from trying to obtain that.

Story of Pete Scheirman, is a believer in Jesus God knows but now there is no desire in his life for God.

If all God wanted us to do is have a one time experience and believe Jesus we would better off getting baptized and going to heaven, but God has a plan for us here and now and it is to be like Jesus.

Do you look more like Jesus than you did a year ago?

1. If we want to be like Jesus you must adapt Paul’s mindset (12-15).

Philippians 3:12 NASB95

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

What was Paul’s Mindset:

a. The Christian life is a journey not a destination.

What is Paul trying to obtain? Paul wants to be all that God has created him to be as much like Jesus as possible.

One of the reasons at our heart beat as a church is that making a disciple is not just the message but also the method is because many believe that believing Jesus is important but not following Jesus. We look at following Jesus as something we did and not what we are doing.

But Paul says he Presses On, because he want to lay hold of what God has for him.

Paul gives us the reason why we can lay hold of God. Isn’t it amazing that the God of the universe who we should not even be able to come near because he is that perfect first laid hold of us.

We press on because God first loved us.

Are you laying a hold of what God wants for your life?

Philippians 3:13–14 NASB95

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

What was Paul’s Mindset:

b. His past did not hinder his future relationship with God (13-14).

He forgot what was behind him this is hard because some of us have some junk in our past and that junk keeps us from moving forward. It is like we have a hard time moving in the right direction because we live in guilt and shame.

But our past successes can also keep us from moving forward. Paul could have easily said, God look at all the great things I have done for you. We can get lazy.

He wanted the prize in Christ Jesus.

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Paul’s persistent zeal 3:12–14

“Each believer is on the track; each has a special lane in which to run; and each has a goal to achieve. If we reach the goal the way God has planned, then we receive a reward. If we fail, we lose the reward, but we do not lose our citizenship.”

God wants all believers to press on toward the prize that God has for them.

What is keeping you from running the race God has created you to run?

???????

Possible illustration

Make this personal

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: Let’s Win the Race! (Philippians 3:12–16)

“You didn’t get fired?” she asked.

“No, it’s not that bad. But he sure did lay into me about my sales record. I can’t figure it out; for the past month I’ve been bringing in plenty of orders. I thought he’d compliment me, but instead he told me to get with it.”

Later in the day, the secretary talked to her boss about Harry. The boss chuckled. “Harry is one of our best salesmen and I’d hate to lose him. But he has a tendency to rest on his laurels and be satisfied with his performance. If I didn’t get him mad at me once a month, he’d never produce!”

2. If we want to be like Jesus you must live with a holy dissatisfaction (15-19).

When I first became a Christian there were a lot of basic decisions that were outward things that just started changing pretty quickly. For example my language cleaned up relatively fast. I wasn’t swearing every time I missed a shot.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians C. Knowing Christ Expresses Godly Motivation (vv. 12–16)

A fact of the Christian life is that the more you mature the more you realize how much further you have to go to become like Christ.

But what I realized is that those things were easy. I started seeing that the closer I got to God the more I saw how dark my heart is.

Philippians 3:15 NASB95

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;

Paul sharing how he is now growing is the attitude he is challenging us to have today.

Example

Challenge

Warning

Motivation

3. If we want to be like Jesus you must remember your “WHY” (12-15).