FIX OUR EYES UPON JESUS

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,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

 We all have a past that is some of our past events affect and control us. When this
is the case we miss God’s blessings and purposes in our lives.

 We have littered the past with the mistakes of daily living. We have shed our tears,
and caused the shedding of tears by others.

 How much pain and suffering is caused by our being controlled by our past?
There are two types of past events:

 Things out of our control

 Consequences of our sin

 Many persons enjoy remembering the past. There are many things about the past
which are important to me. Surely, there are many things about the past which are
important to you also. Our past, and remembering, makes us what we are today.
Everything which has happened to us is a vital part of who and what we are.

 If we don’t deal Biblically with the past we will be robbed of the blessings of God.

Paul helps us know how to deal with our past in our text.

1. LEAVE BEHIND THE THINGS OF THE PAST

 For a lot of people, the past holds a difficult childhood, an abusive marriage, or a
financially draining job loss. Yet no matter how painful our past may have been, for
some strange reason we often choose not to let go. In order to get on with our
future and simplify our lives, we must choose to make a clean break and leave the
past behind.
Here’s how you can let go of the past to move into the future:
 Realize that you have a choice. Understand that you’re not a victim of your
circumstances and that no one but yourself can tie you to the past; you can decide
whether or not to move on. Ask God for the courage to choose to break free of
whatever is chaining you to the past.
 Know Who travels with you. Remember that God is right beside your side all the
time. Trust in His unsurpassed power, wisdom, and love when He urges you to
keep going into the future. Don’t linger in any place God is calling you to leave. Be
willing to put your own agenda aside to follow wherever God leads you.
 Recognize the difference between learning from the past and letting it control
you. Understand that it’s healthy to look back as long as you’re learning from your
past and remembering how God has worked in your life. But beware of becoming so
preoccupied with your past that it begins to dictate your present and future. Don’t
let your past define you; that’s God’s job.
 Seek deliverance from parts of your past you’re struggling to let go. Ask
the Holy Spirit to help you mentally take those past experiences and lay them in
trust at the foot of the cross for Jesus to handle. Acknowledge that holding onto the
past is sin because it keeps you from obeying God’s call to move on. Repent of
making the past an idol in your life. Make whatever changes you need to make in
your life to reinforce your decision, such as discarding past possessions. Surround
yourself with people who support your decision to move on. Seek God with all your
 heart and be excited about His plans for you. Read and meditate on Scripture as a
new perspective gradually emerges for you.
 Avoid nostalgia. Don’t be duped into thinking that your best days are behind you.
Expect God to continue to bless you in new ways. Recognize that your success is
not dependent on any special time or place that can never be captured again. Know
that the same God who was with you back in the past is with you now and will
continue to be. Don’t rest on your laurels or become intimidated by your past
successes; keep active and contributing to the world as He leads you. Trust God to
bring you encore success and joy.
 Seek healing for a broken heart. Know that God understands and feels the pain
of your heartbreak over a broken relationship with someone you’d loved.
Understand that, no matter what happened to wrest your loved one from you, God
can transform your pain into positive growth for you. Realize that everything that
happens to you plays a part in God’s greater purposes for your life. Give up trying
to change the past; it’s futile. Instead, ask God to help you learn to trust His
sovereignty in your relationships. Don’t waste time and energy trying to numb a
broken heart with drugs or alcohol, denying your feelings, starting a “rebound”
relationship, or trying to distract yourself with busyness. Know that God wants to
heal you. Pursue healing by repenting of any sin that was involved in your lost
relationship, carrying your feelings and shattered dreams to God, saturating your
soul with Scripture, and being patient as He gently guides you through the healing
process. Trust God to bring something good out of your pain. Understand that God
brings some people into your life briefly for a specific reason, some for a longer
season, and some to stay your whole life. Ask Him to help you discern which people
are which, and to recognize when it’s the right time for some people to make their
exits. Remember that, while some people may leave you, God never will.
 Overcome failure. Ask God to help you move past two obstacles that stand in your
way after you’ve experienced failure: the consequences of your actions; and your
inner sense of condemnation, guilt, regret, and self-inflicted punishment. Take
your failure to God and allow Him to restore your strength, hope and confidence.
Honestly pour out all your thoughts and feelings about the failure to God. Ask Him
to teach you what He wants you to learn from your failure. Accept God’s
forgiveness, and forgive yourself.
 Break free of trauma’s chains. In prayer, freely express the anger, fear,
disillusionment, mistakes, and regrets that have resulted from a past trauma in
your life. Ask God to direct you to Scripture passages that relate to that trauma,
and to use those passages as a surgeon would a scalpel to bring about the healing
you need. Don’t blame God for your trauma; realize that it was the result of living
in a sinful, fallen world. Invite Jesus into your pain, realizing that He is the
ultimate answer to your problem. Ask Jesus to give you new hope and restore your
sense of purpose.
 Get rid of the poison of bitterness. Realize that holding onto bitterness after
someone has hurt you will only continue to hurt you more by poisoning your soul.
Know that there is only one antidote to that poison – forgiveness. Decide not to
allow people who have wronged you to keep controlling your life and distancing you
from God. Remember all that God has forgiven you for, and let your gratitude and
love for Him motivate you to obey His command to forgive others. Always be willing
to forgive, even when people repeatedly offend you, don’t ask for your forgiveness,
refuse to reconcile, or are deceased. Understand that forgiveness doesn’t depend on
what you consider fair, reasonable, or just – it’s a matter of being faithful to God.
Don’t wait until you feel like forgiving someone; you probably never will.
Instead, decide to do so and trust God to help you. Expect God to clear bitterness
out of your life as you forgive.
 Let go of unhealthy attachments. Don’t waste time and energy trying to hold
onto someone or something from the past if that person or thing doesn’t have a
place in your present or future. Accept reality when you can’t bring back
a marriage, job, child, church, reputation, or anything else you’re trying to
resurrect. Realize that it – whatever it happens to be – is truly over. Refuse to
wallow in sorrow over something you can’t do anything about. Get up, return to life
as normal, worship God, and ask Him to help you enjoy life again. Trust God to
give you new beginnings filled with promise.
  Rely on God’s strength to get you through stormy crossings. Expect a struggle
every time you try to move beyond your past and cross over into your future. Don’t
let challenges take you by surprise; instead, use them as tools to grow closer to
God. Don’t give up; ask God for the courage and strength you need to keep going.
Ask Him to teach you whatever He’d like you to learn from your crossings. Invite
God to strengthen your character and renew your mind so you can become the
person He wants you to become. Ask God to show you a side of Himself you’ve
never seen when you make each crossing.
 Fulfill your potential. Remember that your past doesn’t determine your future.
Invite God to help you understand His purposes for your life and give you a vision
for the new adventures He has in store for you. Realize that your greatest potential
can only be realized in and through Jesus. Ask Him to help you fulfill His highest
potential for you. Step boldly into your future!

ILLUSTRATION:
A man plowing his field

 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.

2. MOVE FORWARD

 The gift of forgetting makes possible the second direction of Paul’s words, “reaching
forth unto those things which are before.”
 We do not need to spend our time or energies in confessional anguish or
remorse.
 Once the past is absolved, we have a new future with new possibilities before
us.
 We face the possibility of being our true selves.
 God’s future for us is not filled with failure or mistakes.
 God’s future for us is filled with the ability to complete, to become, to have
joy.

ILLUSTRATION:
You being students especially those in college experiences disappointments and even
failures. Sometimes those disappointments and failures will slow us down and worst
hinder us from reaching our dreams. Those are just part of the game, spices of life,
challenges. Will you stop?

The fact that you are there gives you the reason to just continue on. There’s no reason
for you to surrender your dreams.

 Have you ever run a race?

 Running a good race requires focus, physical exertion, and perseverance.
 Running a race means you’re in it for the long haul.
 From start to finish, you lay all distractions aside, and you remain focused
on one thing – moving forward and finishing the race. You don’t look back,
you don’t turn around, and most important of all, you don’t quit.

The Bible compares the Christian life to a race. Now there are different types of races,
and the Christian life is best compared to a marathon. It is not a 100-yard dash, and
it is most definitely not a walk in the park. It is a daily challenge which requires focus,
effort, and perseverance to overcome the obstacles in your way. You are a long-
distance runner, and that requires a strong forward focus to keep going.

Now, in Christian life we do experience disappointments either. There are so many

distractions hurled at us by Satan. The truth is, Christian life is not a bed of roses.
Being a Christian does not guarantee you won’t experience problems anymore. It’s the
 other way around. But will you stop from being a Christian and miss the opportunity
of experiencing the love and blessings of God? Will you give up on receiving the gift of
eternal salvation?

Of course not! It’s hot down there! So don’t look back, don’t turn around, and most
important of all, don’t quit. Set our eyes on Jesus and move forward!

Paul shares that forward focus with us in today’s passage. Paul’s focus is on what lies
ahead rather than what is behind, in fact he strains towards what is ahead.

You need to keep that forward focus so that you will be motivated to persevere and
keep growing in Christ.

3. PRESS ON TOWARDS THE GOAL OF GETTING YOUR PRIZE

 Each believer has a goal.

 If you are a Christian here today, then you have a goal. The prize of heaven
awaits. Paul used an interesting phrase to describe his spiritual life in Jesus.
He said, "I press on." That phrase means to "vigorously pursue."
 We as Christians often suffer from short-sightedness. We keep our heads
down and never look ahead toward the prize. We shuffle our feet and never
move with intention toward the goal. We just try to make it through the day
with no clear direction, no pursuit, no goal in sight. When that happens, we
have allowed the enemy, Satan, to win the day!

 Each believer must be singularly focused.

 Many of us are a "jack of all trades, but a master of none." Is that a good
thing?

 Our focus on Christ is not something we do just one day of the week when
we worship. It is a constant...a singular focus.

 Each believer must give all, not some.

 Oftentimes we see athletes who narrowly missed a medal, say: “At least I
gave everything I had”.
 The question I have for you and me alike is: Are we giving everything we
have?
 Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
 Nowhere does Jesus say for us to give some of our heart, soul, strength or
mind. And yet, that is exactly how many Christians approach their daily
lives. If we ever want to win the prize for which God is calling us to…the
reward of heaven itself…then understand this clearly. It requires all, not
some!
 To get to the goal, we are much like runners in a race, giving it all we’ve got
 We cannot cling to what is past…what is behind us, whether victory or
defeat. The race is always focused ahead. That’s why our eyes are in front of
our head, not behind as well. That’s why we have muscles, and not just
bones only, because God didn’t intend for us just to stand, he meant for us
to move and strain with all we’ve got toward what is ahead.
 The goal of finishing the race must be before us as Christians. Heaven
awaits. Strive toward the victory of heaven by living out your faith every day.
CONCLUSION
 The Christian life is a race, and there are only two reasons you’re not in the race
today: 1) you never started, 2) you stopped running. So if you’re not in the race
that means either you never started or you stopped running.
 If you’ve never started, then let me invite you to begin the race today. Jesus died
for your sins so that would not have to. His forgiveness is immediate, it is free, and
it is indescribably sweet. Will you trust Jesus as your Savior and begin the race
today? Trust me, you will never look back!
 Or maybe you did start the race a long time ago, but somewhere along the way you
stopped running. Perhaps you stumbled and fell, or maybe you just got tired and
decided to take a break. If you’re sitting on the sidelines, it’s time to get back in the
race.
 If we are to succeed in the Christian life and honor God by the lives we live, then
we are going to have to run the race His way.
 We will have to run with our eyes upon Him.
 We will have to learn to turn a blind eye to the allurements of the world and
a deaf ear to the siren song of compromise.
 If we will attain the prize of Christlikeness, then we will have to pay the price
of dedication and struggle.
 It will be a hard fought victory, but in the end, when we see His face, it will
be worth it all!
 So keep looking forward. God has big plans for you – as a Christian, as a student.
God has big plans for you. Keep your head up and keep looking forward. There will
be much more for you with God’s love. Look forward to it.
 There’s a Savior to serve and a prize to be won. Run in such a way as to finish the
race and win the prize.
 Yes, indeed each one of us in Christ is a spiritual athlete. We’re all on the same
team. We are Christians. Our goal is heaven.
 God wants us to give all as we strive toward the goal. And while we’re doing that we
need to cheer each other on, just like fellow athletes do with their teammates.