BREAK FREE AND GET TO YOUR DESTINY

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14

 

 

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact attitude has on life. Attitude is more important than facts, the past, education, money, circumstances, failures or successes, what other people think, say, or do. It’s more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. Attitude will make or break a company, a church, a home. But, the remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We can’t change our past—we can’t change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We can’t change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is change our attitude! I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

I want to point out three attitudes this morning that lead to three actions we need to take. The first attitude adjustment that God wants to plant in our minds is: Failure is not final. If failure was final none of us would make it. None of the people of the Bible would have made it. In fact, the Bible is one story after another of people who messed up repeatedly, and how they were coached along by God until they got it right. Names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jonah, David, Paul and Peter come to mind—along with many others—including my own. If failures weren’t included in the Word of God there would be no one there. If failures weren’t included in the church no one would be here this morning. But I want you to know the Bible does show us that failure is not final.

The second attitude God wants us to adopt is: Bad choices can be redeemed. Bad choices lead to bad consequences. Many of us are living with the results of a wrong decision. It’s true that God forgives our past sins, and that He heals the wounds with which sin has injured us. However, there are scars that remain even from a healed wound. But even scars can serve a purpose. They remind us of what happens when we rebel against God and try to go our own way. They also serve to help us relate to other people who have wounds. I suggest to you this morning that the Lord would have me to tell you that we can help others know that wounds can heal and that the consequences of our actions can be redeemed. God uses everything in our lives—even our failures.

The third point is that all of this means: The future is open. The future is as bright as the promises of God. Failure doesn’t mean that you are finished. God can not only forgive your sins; He can redeem what you have done. You are not doomed to repeat your mistakes and relive your lifestyle. I’m here today to declare, decree, and reassure you that your future is not dictated by your past. Something new awaits you. It is a future designed by God. Jesus said, “Behold, I will make all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

If I were to ask those of you here at the River today, “What is your purpose in life?” I would probably get several different answers. Those answers would be good, but they are all secondary purposes. The question is what is your primary purpose in life? In other words, what is your reason for living? Everything in creation has a primary purpose, or a reason for existing. For anyone or anything to be successful, it must fulfill that purpose. Every individual that God has created has a primary purpose. Our lives will be without meaning—we’ll be failures—unless we find out what is our purpose.

The seeds of potential that God has planted inside of you are just waiting to blossom into your divine destiny and purpose. But often times something is stunting your growth. Something is cutting off the supply of nutrients needed and is hindering that seed from growing into the full size the Lord would have for it to be in your life. It could be our own insecurities, lack of confidence, past hurts or the opinions of someone else. Whatever the obstacle we need to deal with it and begin to encourage ourselves so that the seed of goodness can grow. I stopped by to say that the transformation and the ability to overcome depression, sin, rebellion, pride; whatever is hindering us begins when we recognize and understand not who we are, but whose we are, which develops who we really are. Our circumstances are hindrances to seeing God’s abilities in us. “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. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

I come this morning to let you know that the Lord is saying that in order to break free and get to your destiny you have to forget the past. You cannot enter your tomorrow as long as you hold on to your past. You must let go! Many times people say they will forgive but they will not forget. But the fact of the matter is you must forget. If you don’t, when something similar occurs you will just bring that issue back up. We tend to hold onto those things that we are familiar with whether they are good or bad. It’s time to leave the safe and familiar behind. If you want to make the most of your life, you must be willing to plunge ahead into unchartered territory. Only then will you be challenged and stretched. Challenge brings growth, which in turn can bring success. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

You can’t look backwards and forward at the same time (Luke 9:62). Paul, just like all of us had a past to forget. He had tortured and murdered many innocent people. He had caused a lot of pain and had done much damage to the cause of Christ. But, now he was faced with a choice. He could either dwell on his mistakes or let them ruin his life and his chance for effective ministry, or he could forget all about them and move on get to his destiny. Just like Paul had to make a choice, so do we. Maybe you’ve had a bad experience just lately or maybe you did something long ago that you regret. Maybe the memories keep coming back to haunt you from living a full life today. Paul said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

A person who is pressing forward has to resist all feelings of fear, including the fear of the unknown. God told Abram to leave his country in Genesis 12 and He would show him a land. There are some things about your future that God won’t reveal to you unless you are willing to leave your past behind and go higher in your relationship with Him. You see; there’s a part we must play. We as Christians give the wrong impression that when you come to Christ everything will go away. But there’s a walking out and a working out that is our responsibility (Ephesians 4:21 -24). You have to forget the past.

But guess what? Many people have, but we must forget the past too! We need to get a revelation. It’s over! It’s done! It’s gone! It can’t hurt you anymore. There’s nothing you can do to change it. The only thing you can do is change your mindset and move on. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

In order to break free and get to your destiny, you have to intentionally change your thinking to line up with God’s thinking. What I’m trying to say to you is that we have to choose to think differently (Philippians 4:8, 9). What we need to know is that our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions become our habits, and our habits become our character. We have to begin to watch the seeds that we allow to be planted in our minds and cause us to think against the Word of God.

I suggest this morning that in order to break free and get to your destiny, you have just got to get over people. I’ll tell you from first hand experience that there is a freedom; there is this peace of God that surpasses all understanding that you get when you decide to absolutely turn from trying to please people to focusing on God. The greatest fulfillment is that the more you praise the Lord the more your perception will change. I want you to know that when you look with your eyes you need to see in the supernatural. David declares that we ought to look unto the hills from whence comes our help; our help comes from the Lord. So if I get my focus off of man and things and set my eyes on Jesus, then my mind will line up and be transformed into what God is saying. Many times we seek approval of people who really don’t care about us and we find ourselves in a rut trying to move at their every whim. But we have to realize God is the only one who can make us whole. So He’s the only one we should be pleasing.

To break free and get to your destiny, you must recognize who you are in God. The only way to overcome your condition or rise above your circumstance is to know your position. In other words, get in God’s Word and begin to say and call yourself who God calls you. The enemy recognizes the greatness on the inside of you but do you. That’s why he sends distractions to get you to doubt and question God. We must continue to press. We must come to the understanding that the pain of yesterday will be turned into power for tomorrow. That’s why James says, “Count it all joy” (James 1:2). The enemy comes for your weakness; so know your weakness and guard yourself while you operate in your strengths. God didn’t say that He would pull you out of your situation but rather He would give you new vision and perception in those situations.

I also stopped by to remind you that in order to break free and get to your destiny, you’ve got do what Herman Edwards, the Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs says, “You’ve to play to win the game.” Preserving is a defensive hold on the past. Progressing is an offensive hope for the future. I imagine that some of you have seen some sports event in your past. You’ve seen players who are pretty good. Whenever they feel they have a comfortable lead on their opponent they would stop playing to win and start playing not to lose. There’s a big difference between these two ways of playing. When you’re playing to win you are more aggressive and willing to take more risks. You’re playing with more heart and determination. But when you’re playing not to lose you’re playing more cautious and less intense. Those of you who know anything about sports know that when you start playing not to lose, you usually start losing. Your opponent often starts to close the gap and as they do they build momentum and confidence, which sometimes results in them overtaking you and beating you.

Again, the same thing holds true in the spiritual realm. Whenever we let up and start trying to preserve or protect what we have; we actually start losing ground. We can’t afford to let that happen. So we have to keep taking spiritual risks with God and for God, and not allow ourselves to be content or complacent in our spiritual comfort zones.

And as I begin to close, the last point I want to make is that in order to break free and get to your destiny, you have got to attach yourself or get around those spiritual cheerleaders who will actually push you towards your destiny, and not away from your destiny. You have to choose to associate yourself with people who see your potential as being unlimited. And always remember that your limitations are the limits you place on yourself. So encourage yourself and break free and get to your destiny.

“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. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13 -14). “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn” (Isaiah 57:14). “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6). BREAK FREE AND GET TO YOUR DESTINY!