Embrace Spiritual Growth: Press Forward in Faith

On Monday when I was starting on this message, I had already been praying about what God wanted me to speak about. I got to church around 6:15 and had started 2 or 3 ideas that were in my head. I listened to part of a sermon and thought that might be a good topic to speak on. But as I listened and thought about it, this topic of turning back time kept coming to me. I felt like so many of us would like to turn back time and do things differently and that is not an option.

All of the messages that I give have one underlying theme and that theme is to help us have a better relationship with God. Whether I speak about the Knowing the Enemy, having Kingdom Connection, or even our Journey Requirements, everything should help you in your walk with the Lord.

But, and there is always a but, all in all it is up to you to do the things in your life that will have a better relationship with God. I can point you to the tools, but if you don’t use the tools, or if you use the tools improperly, they are not working to their full potential.

Object lesson time… I need a voluntold, so I choose….. Now, I have a board with a screw started in it. I am giving you 3 tools to get that screw put into the board. I am letting you use a cordless drill, a pair of channel locks or a hammer… or you could just use your hand. Ok, go!

Now the obvious choice is the cordless drill, but in your life many of you try to screw it in with your hands, or a hammer. The tools are there, but we refuse to use them properly. We take the bible and set it on a shelf until a situation arises that we need to find scripture to find a solution to a problem.

As an example, maybe we are having a conflict with someone and we want to find a scripture so we go to Exodus 21:24 & 25 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, 25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise. Instead of following what Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39 38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

God gives us the tools to “deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow” Jesus. But if we do not use them, they are useless. If we don’t spend time in the scriptures, spend time truly studying the bible, spend time in prayer and with other believers, we are not going to have a great relationship with God, we will have a life of selfishness. Does that make sense? Many of the people in Jesus’ day didn’t get it. They thought that they were good enough. When Jesus came the old was gone and the new had come, they could not turn back time.

Let’s read our main text. Philippians 3:12

Living in the present is hard enough, some people worry so much about the future that they miss out on right now, but that is not the only thing that people focus on. When we are wanting to live for God there are some do’s and do not’s. Point #1 tells us…

1. Do not hold on to the past.

Philippians 3:13

Luke 9:62

My graduating class of 1985 just had our 40-year reunion back on August 30th. There were several of us that got together and reminisced about high school years and our accomplishments throughout our lives. Many have done some pretty amazing things in their lives.

Some of the records that were set when we were in high school are still there. We have pictures of people pointing to their records that are still on the board. I am not even sure any of those people that ran fast in high school can even run today, not without creaking and moaning anyway.

Several of us had joined the military and served our country, some went to war.

Someone said that there were 4 of us out of our class that have gone on to be pastors. Two of those pastors would have never even been considered pastor material in our high school. Some of us still are not considered pastor material.

Here’s the deal and I want you to listen very carefully. Your past may have helped develop you into the person that you are today, but you are not defined by your past. What you did yesterday, may have been really great and what you did yesterday, may have been really, really bad. It is what you do today that matters. Whether you have had bad or good experiences in your past, living for God today defines who you are.

Jesus said, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Anyone driving a car and only looks in the rearview mirror should not be driving. The windshield is huge for a reason and the rearview mirror is small so it is not a distraction. If we get distracted by what happened in our past, good or bad, we lose.

If you dwell on the great things you have done, you might miss out on a better thing that God has for you to do. If you dwell on the bad things of your past, then Satan will convince you that you are not good enough and God will never forgive you. Do not hold on to your past. Here is another one that some will look at and be upset and some will look at and twist.

2. Let go of things/people/family that are holding you back.

Luke 9:59-61

I love how God gives me material sometimes. How do I explain this part of what Jesus said to those that said they would follow Him after they did this or that with their family? Was Jesus saying that family was not important? Was Jesus saying that relationships with other people are not important? That is a huge “NO!” with an asterisk!

How can I go into all the world and make disciples if I do not foster relationships with people outside of the Church? Right? How can I win someone to the Lord if I can’t be a part of their life? Jesus is not talking about not having a non-believing family or friends. He is talking about things that hold us back from following Him and being His student.

You can’t win a friend to the Lord, by looking like the world. If you have a friend that does drugs, you won’t win them by doing drugs with them. If you have a friend that uses bad language or gossips, you won’t point them to God by cursing and gossiping. You can’t win family to the Lord if you put family ahead of God.

I was watching some videos on Facebook and I this one came up as I was watching. The man’s name is Keenan Clark.

Play Video

Spiritually speaking, if you have one foot in the church and one foot in the world, both feet are in the world. The bible tells us that we can’t serve 2 masters. We hold on to things that hold us back from serving wholeheartedly. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.

What is hold you back? Let me give you one more….

3. Keep pushing for perfection.

Philippians 3:12, 14

In 2015, there was a 3000-meter steeplechase event at the University of Oregon. Senior, Tanguy Pepiot was way out in front as he entered the last 75 meters of the race. He had won like 10 of the events in a row and no one even came close until this day.

As the Univ. of OR senior got about 50 meters away, he started to focus on the crowd. He was waving his hand to get the crowd to cheer louder and they did, they cheered louder and louder but not for Tanguy but for Washington’s Meron Simon. He ran his heart out the last 50 meters, caught the leader and passed him with just a couple of feet left.

It can be easy for us Christians that have been Christians a long time to think we have already won the race, when in all actuality the race is not over. We must keep pushing on. We can’t give up or let our guard down. Satan is waiting to devour us. He wants to destroy us. We must stay focused on the goal.

How many of you have reached your full potential in life? How about in serving God? Is there a time, in your life when you have done all you can in serving God or that you have learned all that you can learn about God and you could not possibly be a better Christian than you are right now?

In Matthew 24:13 Jesus said this, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” He doesn’t say those that give it a try or those that go for a bit and slack off will be saved. Those that endure to the end. We must keep going. We must not get lazy or lackadaisical. We must strive for the goal.

No Goin' Back