MOVING FORWARD

Have you ever craved a new start? Have you wished you could get a “do over”?

In Philippians 3:12-21 Paul gives us four keys for Moving Forward…

1. EVALUATION: Face Reality.

Here’s what I mean… Admit that you don’t have it all together. You haven’t arrived. You’ve still got a long way to go… Take INVENTORY of your life.

Paul was brutally honest about his life. He was gut level honest about his faults and his failures.

Philippians 3:12-13 (NIV), Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it…

These sentences blow me away! Paul was an old man when he wrote these words. This guy has single handedly spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. He has established more than fifty churches! He has made an incredible impact on the world! But when he examined his life, Paul said, “I don’t have it all together… I haven’t arrived… I’m not perfect… I’m still growing…”


2. ELIMINATION: Let Go Of Your Past.

Paul refused to be manipulated by his memories… I love Philippians 3:13.

Philippians 3:13 (NLT), No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead…

Paul realized that if he was going to be all God wanted him to be, then he couldn’t afford to waste any more time on yesterday!

This is CRUCIAL! If you really want to MOVE FORWARD you have to LET GO of the guilt, grief and regret of your past. Sometimes MOVING FORWARD means learning to forget!

I love the way James Long describes it: “One reason God created time was so there would be a place to bury the failures of the past.”

He’s right! Maybe it’s time for you to LET GO OF YOUR PAST.

3. CONCENTRATION: Focus On What’s Next.

Philippians 3:13-14, Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal…

One of the biggest problems most of us face is fragmentation.... Paul said, “This ONE THING I do…”

What are you focused on? Are you really directing all of your energy and efforts in a singular direction?


4. DETERMINATION: Fight Until You Finish.

Philippians 3:12-13, ... I press on ... straining ... I press on to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Can you feel the intensity in these verses? Can you sense the determination? The phrase “press on” can actually be translated, “I over extend myself… I go for it with all I’ve got… I throw myself into it… I strain with every nerve and muscle in me to reach the prize…”


One of the CD’s I’ve been wearing out on my I-pod is the recent CD by Free Chapel. Wow! If you haven’t purchased this one, get on I-tunes now! Download it! For the last few months I’ve been going back to this CD again and again for inspiration and encouragement.

The title cut of the CD is “Moving Forward.” On a recent drive to and from South Carolina, the words of this song completely “unglued me.”

“I’m not going back, I’m moving ahead;
I’m here to declare to you, my past is over
In You, all things are made new,
Surrender my life to Christ, I’m moving, moving forward!”

Tired of reliving your past? Tired of being "stuck in the moment"? Do you long for God to do something NEW in your life. Then, why not make a decision today! Start MOVING FORWARD!