I want to speak a message entitled "Move On". Philipians 3:12-15 says this, "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected but I press on that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many who are mature have this mind and if anyone thinks otherwise, God will reveal even this to you".
Father, this morning we thank you for your greatness and your goodness in this place, for the things that have taken place this morning and this week. Lord, we pray that this word will have its way in our lives. May we decrease and may you increase, Amen.
In 1899, the U.S. Patent office almost closed because the head of the Patent office believed that everything that could be invented had been invented. This is before the invention of the phone, the microwave oven, the cell phone and tv and even the computer. One man who had climbed Mount Everest said of his great achievement that he was thrilled to reach the top but he could only stay and enjoy the view for a short time because he still had to go home and live the rest of his life. He understood that it was a long way to get back and he still had a long way to go. The great adventure in life is not the great things we accomplish or the failures that we have experienced, or the hurts and the obstacles that we have to climb, the adventure in life is living the life that God has given to us.
The apostle Paul knew that God had a plan and a purpose for his life. This is a man who went all out when he did things. Before he knew the Lord he went all out doing things that he thought was right, even when it came time to persecute the Christians. When God got a hold of him on his Damascus Road experience, God grabbed a hold of him and made him blind and he had to go to a prophet to receive his sight again. Then when he began to live for the Lord he went all out wholeheartedly for God. This man had been through more victories and more trials than you and I could ever imagine but he said, "I press on'. If he was here today he'd say, "I'm moving on". He said, "I've done a lot with my life but I haven't done it all. I've failed and made mistakes but I can't stay back where I made them or live in them anymore, i'm moving on. I've done a lot of great things and accomplished so much with what I am. I've done a lot of things for God but I can't rest on that, I'm pressing on. God has so much for my life, I'm moving on and I'm going to possess everything that he's grabbed a hold of me for. I believe that's God's plan for everyone of us today just like the apostle Paul, to press on and move on and get everything that God has for us. God has big plans and dreams for all of our lives. He had a plan for you the day that he created you and he has deposited that plan and that dream in our spirit. Like Paul we must all move toward the goal and press forward to reach all that God has promised and all that he has impressed upon us.
What is your Dream? What is God's vision for your life? I can honestly say that I'm living mine. I love what God has called me to. I've got the greatest wife, the greatest family and I get to pastor the greatest church not just in Palm Beach County but in America. I thank God for this place. We live in the greatest place. How many are thankful that when you got up this morning it was nice and cool and when you leave this building it will be about 77 degrees and the beach is right down the street. You are blessed.
Dreams are progressive, they unfold and happen a little bit at a time. If you have a great dream you ought to live it. Have you let your dream die? What is God's vision and plan for your life? Are you stuck and weighed down by mistakes and disappointment? I have a word for you this morning, move on. It's time to move on and press forward to all that God has for you. To move on we must overcome our own excuses and the barriers that hinder us, that keep us from attaining all that God has for our life.
The truth is that somehow many people get stuck, tripped up or detoured on the way to God's plan for their life. Somehow they stop living and stop recognizing the adventure. How many understand that life is an adventure? You only get to do this life just one time and you might as well enjoy it and go for everything that God has for you. It is the best thing that God ever gave you regardless of the mistakes and the hardships. Life is not a dry and dreary thing. Things may come in and trip you up and make you stumble but you can move on. Because of what some have experienced they're afraid to follow their dreams and they're afraid to follow God's plans.
I've found that there are several things that keep people from moving on. One of the things we must move on from is our past, both the good and the bad. Many times we get stuck in the past because of hurts and wrongs that were done to us or even the things that we've done to ourselves. How many have done some pretty dumb things to yourself? Everyone in this room can give testimony to that but the truth is that failure and sins, even the mistakes we make don't have to hold us back when we have Jesus in our life. We can still move on.
Psalms 103:2-5 says, "Bless the Lord, O my Soul and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases. Verse 4 says, "who redeems your life from destruction". If your life is going to be redeemed from destruction then you must have been destroyed for God to redeem it, he brings it back. You can move on. "Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed". The Bible says that God will heal all our diseases. Disease is more than sickness, it is the dis-ease, the unease or uncomfortableness of life that has left you hurt or uneasy. It is through God that it makes it possible to move on. Do you know that God gives you permission to forget the past? You don't have to be stuck there and you don't have to live there, you can move on from the past. Learn the lessons you experienced while you were there but move on. To move on means that he's going to heal us so that we can.
When my father died we mourned but we needed to move on and live again. God has given us his Holy Spirit. Maybe something in you has died. Maybe you've failed and made mistakes. Maybe life has knocked the wind absolutely out of your sails but God has given us his Holy Spirit who is the very breath of God. There is something that we must understand that it is he who redeems our life from destruction and it is he who heals our life from diseases. He is the one who when the wind gets knocked out of us, he breathes life right back into us. We don't have to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps with our own power. Regardless of what has happened in your past, the Holy Spirit will come and breathe life right back into you, that's the promise of his word. That's the power of God and that's his will for our life. When you grasp hold of that idea of what God has for you, when you grasp his vision and dream for your life, it will give you the motivation to move forward.
This vision will help you determine what needs to stay and what needs to be kept; what needs to be left in the past and what you need to take into your future. The truth is that everyone of us needs help to do that. 1st Corinthians 2:9 says, "Eye has not seen nor has ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him". To move on you must believe that. How many know that God has already prepared things in advance for you? Right now in this adventure that you live that God has given you to enjoy, in this plan that God has given you to fulfill, he has already put things in your destiny for you. It is not a mystery, it is not hidden, if you will obey the Lord and walk according to his ways and his will and follow the vision and direction he has for your life, he already has incredible things that you haven't even thought about that he will bless you with. The truth is that I can't believe in my own life that God would take a boy out of Pittsburgh and put me just about a half mile living from the beach.
Sometimes we have to let go of the good, not just the bad. The first church I got to pastor was in the coal country of Pennsylvania and I hated living there. I grew up not far from the mall and near lots of great Italian restaurants. We had everything you could want right from where I lived. I liked the city and God took this city boy and put him In Haltsdale, Pennsylvania with all the coal people. It smelled like coal, it was dirty and it was bad. There was nowhere to shop. It was a 3 hour drive to get home but I could do it in 2 ½, I couldn't wait to get home, but I hadn't settled, I wasn't happy. God took me from Pittsburgh to Haltsdale to cattle country in Okeechobee, Fl. I went from coal country to cattle farming.
I said, "God, I'll go wherever you want me to go but when I got to Okeechobee all I could think about was Pittsburgh. There were people that I loved in that place but I always kept calling Pittsburgh home and I had to remember that Pittsburgh wasn't my home but it's where I'm from. Home is where my family is and where God has placed me. I want to tell you that right here in Jupiter is my home. I'm still going to root for the Pittsburgh Steelers though and I'll root for Miami second. Home is where my wife and my kids are, home is this church and this city. The truth is I finally settled in when I finally began to realize that I had to leave that in my past and that there were things I could take with me. Many people have a hard time moving on because they're mad about where they are physically or just where they are in life.
"Here" isn't a destination, it is a starting point and you've got to be here, not in the past, in order to move on. You've got to be here first in order to receive all that God has for you. At some point you need to leave the past behind and start living now. When you start living now you can move on. Some of you have been hurt and you need to leave that in your past and you need to be here now. The truth is you were hurt in your past and you are whole now. You are the healed of God and the loved of God. He has touched you and has done good things for you. Start living now and then move on with what God has for your life. It isn't a destination, start to live.
Another obstacle that keeps people from moving on can be wrong relationships. That's why we are to be equally yoked, first of all to God then those who we are friends with. Some people will not go with you where you're going so walk as far as you can and then move on. I need to be careful here, I'm not talking about your marriage this morning. Your marriage is home, that's who you're married to and it's part of your adventure. If you're having a hard time there, enjoy the adventure and go on. Some things in life run their course; some friendships, some jobs, some things come to an end and we must be willing to let them go. Amos 3:3 says, "How can two walk together unless they are agreed". The truth is that many of us will have friends that were only meant to be for a season. Some of us will have jobs that were meant just for a season. I'm so glad Haltsdale was only for a season. I cherish the people there but I'm glad to be here. Sometimes when you're not agreed, certain relationships will stop.
Some won't let go of the good old days but sometimes you need to let them go. The truth is you can beat a dead horse but all you're going to do is tenderize the meat and get a little bit frustrated. If your horse isn't moving, get off the dead one and get on one that you can ride. It's important.
Sometimes we don't move on because we also know we have some unfinished business that we need to deal with. There are many people who are doing well with their lives; they have a great family and quite a bit of wealth; they can go on any vacation they want, but some people who have such a great sense of success in their life also has a deep nagging within that leaves them absolutely unsettled. Before you can move on you have to deal with some unfinished business. Some people have never stepped out on what God has put on their heart to do. Some people feel trapped and when no one else is looking they just feel like weeping and don't know why. It might hit you when you're alone at work and all of a sudden this thing begins to well up inside of you. You might find yourself involved in a really good movie and all of a sudden you start to cry and you let yourself because you know there's something going on inside and you know that people will think it's just the movie that touched your heart. But there's this deep sense inside of you that's bothering you. Deep down many know that they are neglecting their dream or they're not dealing with things that they need to put in order so that they can move on. On the outside your life might seem stable but on the inside there is a large difference between who you are and who you should be. Get down to business and take care of those things so you can move on.
If there is sin in your life it's time to deal with it. Take it to Jesus. If that's what is holding you back, lay it at the cross, leave it there and move on. If it's something God called you to do like a ministry God called you to start; if it's someone that God wants you to speak to, go do it now and make it right so you can move on. When we lose sight of God's vision for our life, boredom can set in and even self destruction can set in. There can be a deep boredom with life and unsettledness even in the midst of success. When you begin to look around your life and you feel that everything is well and God has blessed you but all of a sudden you find that you are so bored, you can know that you have stepped out of the dream or vision that God has given for your life. How many know life is an adventure that is meant to be enjoyed? You get one shot and if you're finding that you're bored and you've settled into these things, it's time to seek the face of God and ask him to renew your vision. Ask him to put his passion back in your heart, ask him so you can start to dream again.
The Bible says that where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint. When we don't move on in God's plan we begin to fill the spaces in our life with pleasure to fill the emptiness, to kill the boredom and the pain. People do it in all sorts of ways, whether it's alcohol or sports. You may even start living your life through your own children but at some point your children are going to grow up and go away and you've got to have a plan for your own life. Some do it through just watching tv. They become so bored with life, they know everything that is going on in the world and understand every show that's on television and maybe get so engrossed in the tv show that they think it's real life. Listen, we all exist for a reason and having a revelation of God's dream brings a clarity and an order to life. It keeps you going even when you think, "Is this all there is?" Everyone of us will have that time when you look around and wonder if this is all there is. Am I just here to earn money and have a paycheck? Sometimes you'll even look at church and think "is this all there is?" But when you've got a vision and a dream from God in your heart, it sees you past those days.
If you don't have a vision or a dream, a goal or a plan that God has for you, you'll stop and just wonder. I don't care who you are, at some point you'll have that thought, "Is this all there is?" But those who know what God has put in their heart can look past that. You may go through a couple days of feeling that or maybe even a week but the truth is when you have that passion inside of you of what God has for your life you'll keep on going because you have something to look to. You have his life and his dream inside of you and you'll keep on moving towards it. But if you're bored you'll begin to entertain behavior that will harm you or just fill your time with activities that just swallow your time. If that's you it is time to regain your vision for life and move on and pursue God's dream and vision for your life. I don't care how old you are, if you're 83 or 18, if you've got that vision in your heart and know God's purpose for your life you will pursue it with everything that's within you and you'll never stop living. You've got to keep on living.
Many times disappointment keeps us from moving on. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick but when desire comes it is a tree of life". Many never move on because a dream has been shattered and it has not turned out the way they hoped it would be or thought it would look. You may be filled with doubt because disappointment or discouragement entered in and maybe even bitterness. There are many even today that are disappointed because their marriage didn't turn out the way they thought it would be and they can't believe that this is their life now. Others were just let go from their jobs and are trying to figure out what God's plan is; some have had someone pass away. The truth is nothing hurts like disappointment. That word disappointment implies that we had an appointment but when we got there things didn't turn out the way we thought they would be and we were disappointed. We can not always see what God sees. Even if you have a reason to be disappointed you have a better reason to move on because you can stay disappointed or you can move on to your divine appointment.
If you were to ask me in the 7th or 8th grade who I would marry I would have told you a totally different person. There was this girl that I loved who was in my youth group. I had a crush on her all through middle school and high school and I just though she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I would tell people that's the girl I'm going to marry. But God had a much better plan for my life. That girl wound up marrying some other guy and now she's someone else's problem because she turned out to be crazy. Glory to God, I'm so glad I didn't marry her. I got the better end of the deal and have the best woman in the whole world as my wife. Sometimes disappointment is your divine appointment. If I had stayed with that girl I would have never met my wife and I'm so glad that I met her. Sometimes life's greatest letdowns are the best thing to happen to us but we've got to move on.
I know a man whose whole desire was to retire. He wanted to retire by the age of 51. He never really lived a day in his life; He hated the job he had, all he did was work and had a plan to retire at 51. But he had no plan after age 51; he just wanted to retire. I talked to him a few weeks ago and he lost his job, praise the Lord. His company had closed down and he wound up getting a new job and now he has to work every day, he's past 51. I told him that was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. I asked him what he was doing with his life now and he said, "I'm just living everyday". I said, "It's about time". One of the greatest enemies of our dream that can hinder us from moving on in our life is oversatisfaction. Satisfaction is the enemy of a dream or a goal. I believe this the last day's disease; people who say they have need of nothing. As a matter of fact if you read Revelations chaper 3 which is God's word to Laodicea, these people said, "I have need of nothing. I am rich and well off, I've done so good, I'll think I'll just take it easy". Some people look at their life and say, "This is good enough, I'm comfortable, I'm safe, life is easy, there's no challenge and there's little effort". That sounds like death to me. This is the American dream to just have it good enough.
I am so thankful for those folks who came out the day before Thanksgiving. You had the day off from work and you decided you were going to come to church and be a blessing to other people. You came in and helped cut turkeys and helped put the meal together. You could have been at home just sitting back satisfied watching another Christmas movie or getting ready for the next day but you came out and ministered and touched the lives of other people. All your life was good but you took time out of it to bless other people. There is always work for us to do and a call that God has for our life. There is always something bigger than ourselves to reach out to. God doesn't mind if we relax. Thank God after Wednesday there was Thursday. How many sat back and relaxed and ate a lot of food? But many people trade their dreams for the pleasantness of pleasure. God wants us content and happy but the enemy will entice us so subtly and will rob us of God's best if we give in.
The last thing that keeps us from moving on and pressing forward is fear of the battles and the resistance that we'll have if we go after God's dream. Some people fear the battle so much that they forsake their dream before they even get to the battlefield. Some are just waiting for the right time to move on. I believe that God's timing is important when it comes to obeying him. Pressing on for all that God has, achieving his visions and dreams for us can be hard and tiring and sometimes even scary. Our gut reaction when we see the plan that God has for us may actually be fear but how many know we are not ruled by our gut reaction? We are ruled by the spirit of God that lives inside of us. Don't go by your gut. Some people are waiting for some special wave of the spirit to emotionally propel them through problems and difficult times with little effort. If you're waiting for that time you're going to be waiting for a long time. The truth is that God will give you the strength to get through but we need to have the courage to step out. Many of us know that God will see us through the battles but many don't believe that God will see us to the battle.
I love to go to Tennessee. I enjoy the mountains like you can't believe but I know in order to get there I've got to go on a 12 hour car ride. I like to drive but sometimes I wonder if I can make it the whole 12 hours. When I get in the car sometimes I get myself so worked up. What I found is that when I get in the car God wants me to be blessed. That's why he gave me the ability to get there, rent the cabin and enjoy the scenery. How many know he'll give me the strength to get where I'm going? Sometimes I have to have an energy drink on the way. That's my job and God will keep me awake and keep me driving. Some people are so scared of the battle they feel overwhelmed, powerless and ineffective. We must not allow the fear of the battles to hold us back.
Courage understands that life will be full of battles no matter what. When you dare to move on with God your battles will take you somewhere. Courage will get you to the battle but God's power will see you through the battle. Courage is something you have to take yourself, God won't give it to you. He told his people all the time, "Take courage, be of good courage, do not fear and I will be with you wherever you go". God is faithful.
A few months ago we stepped out as a church and went to two services. How many remember we were putting people out in the hallway we were so full? Now we have a good crowd here and some elbow room. Sometimes you get afraid to take those risks for God. What happens if the services feel different? What happens if people don't show up? But as a church we stepped out and decided we'd do it. Why? So we could go and reach a city for Jesus. How many know when we have people being shot right down the street, and when you can feel the tension in the air just when you walk into a store we need the power of God to move through our city. Part of doing that is to step out. I have learned that in order to enjoy the adventure you've got to move on for God.
I love that my boys are teenagers and I can't wait for this summer, God willing, when we get up to Tennessee. My wife doesn't like to do this but Chris and Wesley and Britney are going to love to do it. We're going to go white water rafting. My wife went white water rafting with me one time and she decided she didn't like it. I've been white water rafting so many times and I love to do it. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Every time I get into that raft and I start paddling, there's nothing like feeling the raft and just water under you. When I come up on the first rapid and start to hear the water, I always think to myself, "Why am I here?" But the truth is as soon as you get in the rapids you don't have time to worry about why you're there, you just start to enjoy the adventure. If one of your family members fall out of the boat on the way you just say Glory to God, they're in God's hands because there's no way you can stop and pick them up. My dad was with me when I was 16 years old and I fell out in a class 5 rapid in Ohio and got trapped. I cried out to Jesus, "I'm too young to die" and I went flying down the river. It was awesome. Sometimes in your great adventure you're worried about your family members. You're afraid if they fall out of the boat they're not going to be ok. How many know when you step out to obey God he will take care of your family? You've got to enjoy life and you've got to live.
The adventure is meant to be lived. I'm not talking about needless risks and I'm not saying that it always feels safe but the truth is if you'll move on you'll never regret being in God's will. You will never regret striking out for God's dreams and visions for your life. You will be so fulfilled. I can't wait, I've already been down the river, now my boys and my daughter are going to be able to experience it and we're going to have fun. I want to tell you what a great God we serve.
Let me ask you, what's taking the wind out of your sails? Are you living your dream? Remember this, the Holy Spirit is the breath of God and he'll fill your sails if they come down or if you've brought it down yourself I dare you to run it up the pole. Trust God, he will fill it and take you on the greatest adventure of your life. You will love it, you will live it and never be sorry for it.
I believe this word was for many in this room and God's word for you is to move on. Your life is meant to be lived. I don't know the hurts that you've faced or the pain that you've been through but you can move on. I don't know what you're waiting for but while you're waiting on God, live and keep going after the Lord.
Spirit of God, I thank you that you're here this morning. I thank you for your love for us and your plan for us. God, we can't even imagine how good the life is that you have for us. I thank you God for all that you've placed in our lives, for how fulfilled you want us to be. I thank you for the great blessings that we've had over this week. God, for some in this room there is that deep sadness. They've lost the dream or have quit living it for whatever reason. I pray, Holy Spirit, That you would come into their life and fill them right now. Fill them again with hope, with joy and with life. If they've quit living and have been depressed and filling their life with other things just to dull the boredom and the pain, I pray God right now that you would come in and not only heal the hurt but give them the strength to move on. For some, God, they see the impossibility of what lies before them but I thank you that the same God that brought down the walls of Jericho so his children could go into the promised land is the same God of us today that will break down every wall if we will just confront it and get around it. We don't have to climb over it, Lord, you'll bring it down so we can move on.
Lord, I pray for those who have unfinished business with you; sins that they need to repent of that have been holding them back. Lord, today we come and lay them at your feet right at the cross and we're going to leave them there and move on. In relationships I pray for the marriages that need mending that they would not be left behind but kept and to move forward. I pray for those who had marriages that didn't turn out the way they hoped that they would be able to move on. I pray God for your life to fill each heart and for your love to embrace each one. I thank you God for a vision, not some abstract scene we don't understand. It is something that we may not see with our physical eyes but we can see with our spirit, the plan and purpose you have for us and what it looks like when we get there. It may not unfold the way we hoped it might but when we get there the finished look is far better than we could ever imagine. I pray that you'd heal every disappointment in this room. Lord, we thank you for how faithful you are all the time, in the precious name of Jesus, amen. The Lord is good.
