SoLo Lives! Ministry

The Secrets of Real Joy Part VI
Ptr. Joby Soriano / Sunday, August 03, 2008

THE SECRETS OF REAL JOY PART VI:
Running the Race to Christ-likeness

Living in complacency, living in the past, living without a purpose–that sounds like a joyless existence. How can we put excitement into our lives and at the same time make it meaningful and significant? Are we just going to watch the world go by on the sidelines, or are we going to be where the action is as active participants?

By virtue of our qualification as God’s people, we have entered into a race where participation is not an option but a mission. How can we run with a winning attitude as we tackle the different hurdles and still fulfill what God has purposed for our lives?

The apostle Paul has this to impart: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained” (Philippians 3:12-16). For practical application, these should help:

1. Don’t live in complacency–Get ready! Growth is essential in the Christian life. If we think being saved is all there is to Christianity, we will never graduate to higher levels of faith and be what God wants us to become. Growth begins with the realization that we need to change. And when we start measuring our progress, our standard should be Christ. Comparing ourselves with our neighbor is not the yardstick that will tell us how far we need to go to be straightened out.

Our decision to grow in spiritual maturity gets us ready to start the race. Being a “lukewarm” Christian is a sign of complacency. A holy dissatisfaction over where we are now, as seen in the apostle Paul, is what we should all develop. Are we progressing in the right direction?

2. Don’t live in the past–Get set! The past is one baggage we cannot lug along as we run the race. It robs us of both the present and the future. Forgetting what lies behind is what we need to do. Forgetting does not mean completely being rid of the memory. What it really means is to no longer be influenced or affected by the past. In other words, forgetting is to break the power of the past by living for the future.

For us to be conquerors of our past there are three things we need to master:

a) Recognize the past for what it is–past, over, ended, finished, gone, and done.

b) Recognize that it’s the devil’s strategy to discourage or defeat us and ultimately rob us of joy.

c) Recognize that although we cannot alter the past, we have the power to change the way we respond to it.

One thing that locks us to the past is unforgiveness. Forgiving the hurts and offenses inflicted on us by people will set us free from the past. If Paul never forgave himself for his past as a persecutor of Christians, he probably wouldn’t have known what it’s like to have joy in the company of trials. His epistle in the Roman prison exhorting us to rejoice would not have been written. And he would never have strained forward to become the missionary who sparked a spiritual revival in the early church. We can make the same choice Paul made. Our choice to forget the past and reach forward to know Christ more intimately and make Him known gets us set in the right direction.

3. Don’t live without purpose–Get going! Are we drifters with no goals, ambitions or dreams? “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning; without meaning, life has no significance. The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.”

Knowing our purpose motivates us. Purpose produces passion. ”We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). The signature of God in our lives is what makes us priceless and unique. Our commitment and dedication to fulfill our purpose to pursue Christ-likeness gets us going to achieve our goal and win the prize. Our motivation is the upward call, which is to live in light of being called out of this world into the presence of God.
The ending of our life is more important than the beginning. If we want to finish strong, we must play by the rules in order to finish the race and win the promised prize.