Motivated To Move On In 2005

“Motivated To Move On In 2005”

Philippians 3:12-14

Here we are about to enter a new year! If you’re like me you probably ask yourself, “I wonder what will happen in this New Year?” or “What unexpected event with take place this year?”

I was talking to a man while in line at Save Mart and he said to me, “I am not even ready to go into 2005”. Then I asked him, why? He said, “There’s not enough time in a day to go there!”

That conversation sparked this sermon today! I just couldn’t get his statement out of my mind and the look of pain on his face as he said, “There’s not enough time in a day to go there!”

Maybe you have the same thought going through your mind today!

Are you more moved by your past or are you more motivated about your future?

Well, today I want to motivate you to move on in 2005! Move on and face the future with strength, security and success.

The only person who ever lived on this planet that never had any regrets was Jesus Christ! Not so with us! I’m sure all of us can say today that there are regrets in our past or in this past year!

You may have regrets:

· Because you did something in this past year that you know you should not have done!

· Or because you did not do something this past year that you know you should have done!

Countless people woke up this morning with clouds of regrets and remorse hovering over them and everywhere they go – those clouds follows them!

If you are saying to yourself – that’s me! Do you know you’re in good company? The greatest Christian to ever live is the apostle Paul. A man that had a life of regrets, heartache, sorrow and remorse!

Paul is going to help us get out from under the cloud of guilt and move onto a crown of glory!

1. Be Dissatisfied With Your Position. Vs. 12

The good news for Paul was that he was saved, sure and sanctified, but he was not satisfied!

Get this: even though he was a spiritual superstar, a dynamic leader and a powerful prayer warrior – he was not satisfied with that, he wanted to improve in his spiritual walk!

Does that describe you? I’m still growing in my personal life and in my spiritual journey!

There are 2 problems that we all must never accept:

· Avoid living in the past.

· Never rest in the present.

This raises a question that I ask all of us… Are we mature enough to realize that we are still not mature enough?

You see what made Paul such a great man was that he was more concerned with his character than he was with his reputation! And the reason he was so successful was because he never thought of himself as being successful!

We all want to be successful in our own way! The greatest principle of success as you will be reminded of next month is –

LifePoint: The position of success is not a destination; rather it’s a never-ending process.

We need to wake up every day and ask ourselves “How can I make the rest of my life the best!” We must be dissatisfied with our position – that’s the starting point!

2. Be Delivered From You Past. Vs. 13

Ecclesiastes 7:10 “Don’t long for the old days, for you don’t know whether they are any better than today.” NLT

I guarantee that you will never experience a better tomorrow if you are always thinking about the past! We will never be able to focus on the future until we get unfocused from our past!

Virtually every verse in this text, Paul gives us aggressive terminology. Paul is reminding the reader -“press on”, “reaching forward”, and “the goal”.

He’s using these phrases because life doesn’t have to be a “rat race” instead life can be a winning race!

As with every race, the important thing is not where you’ve been but where you’re heading! You can be assured that you will never sail the ship of your life into the seas of peace and joy, if you’re still anchored to your past!

How could the American Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, wins 7 gold medals if he was always looking back? Impossible! How can Jeff Gordon win a Nascar race always looking in the rearview mirror? Impossible!

May I say something that might just surprise you and liberate you from bad theology? God is not as concerned with your past as you are!

Key: Paul understood this because - he was striving to move past his position in life and his life of the past!

Paul had to: