Philippians 3:12-16 – Living in Yesterday

Most people wish they could:

• Relive yesterday
• Rewrite yesterday

Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me”

This Bible verse has a mixture of two healthy traits:

• Humility
• Hunger

GREAT ATHLETES NEVER STOP IMPROVING

I think sports teaches us something that many Christians often forget – Growth never happens accidently

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence – Vince Lombardi

Yesterday can become one of two dangerous museums in a person’s life:

• The museum of failure
• The museum of success

Luke 9:62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Philippians 3:12-13 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, 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”

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”

Philippians 3:14  “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. “

Most think the prize is heaven:

• Paul says the prize is Jesus

Spiritual maturity is not thinking that you have arrived – It is realizing how much more there is to know

Philippians 3:15-16 “All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

 “I am still learning” – Michaelangelo

For a bicycle – Movement brings stability

For our lives – We were created to keep growing

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me”

Our pursuit of Jesus has always been a response to his pursuit of us