Pressing On [Part 2]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright you can't be rejected because you're already accepted. This is the beautiful thing about being a Christian is that you know that you have citizenship now in a different kingdom.

So when things in this world you feel like an alien youth like a refugee going to have no home here. It's okay you have a real home that's pastor out right into another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Dino Britt excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series. Unspeakable joy is presented at renewal the church in North Carolina.

If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now.

It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministry as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastor@an.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright I'm not perfect, really perfect means fully mature me.

I haven't arrived.

I'm not perfect.

I haven't arrived this something liberating about the power of the gospel when it comes to our fear number one of messing up one of the reason we don't pretzels because were just afraid that I might fail at it with the Gospels answer that is if you say, why don't I want to press on a lot more if I mess up. I think the Gospels answer.

So what what toddler learning to walk to Gottschalk that I might fall down is if this is a silly notion when your child of God, you have a father loves you infinitely.

God is excited to see you try to take the next step is why, but I might but I went on a perfect well you're not going to be.

I have not already obtained, there's good news and admitting that I am not going to be perfect, keep growing pulsating. The finished work of Jesus doesn't mean that Jesus finish with you is good news.

When you find out that there still journey in front of you say I think. So often we interpreted that we find out that we have further to go. We interpreted as bad news.

We always want to arrive, but so does the best as you could ever get is there still journey in front of you may not be that everything is turn out the way that you wanted to turn out. You might be facing something right now but God wants you to know finished finished with you if he is finished with you.

You be in heaven with him.

Is there something something more is a strange and inspiring story and first Kings 19 after Elijah has had the showdown with the prophets of ball mount caramel maybe you remember the story in the call upon the fire to come down and see what whose God will consume the altar with fire. Those 450 prophets of Baal, call out to him.

Balaban, nothing happens.

Elijah mocks them such a confident man of God is as well call out or maybe he is asleep or using the bathroom or somethingis so oddly the province of all callout or bow wow and then the text says they started lashing themselves not have to and Elijah stood of the man of God in the cold upon the name of the Lord.

Most time fire came down consume the altar and he struck down every one of the prophets, and the glory of God shone forth.

It was one of the greatest victories recorded in the Bible, but in the very next scene first Kings 19 one Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how it killed all the prophets with the sword and Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah's and so may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them. By this time tomorrow, and he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, he himself wanted days journey into the wilderness came sat down on her broom tree and he asked that he might die saying it is enough now. Oh Lord, take away my life, for I'm no better than my fathers, and they lay down and slept under a broom tree if you ever had a time where discouraged not alone. Oddly sometimes and come after some your greatest victories refilling to reach the finish line. And then you find out there something else to do. It's hard to press on some I just added a mile to your race and you did know was coming, but an angel came and touched them and said, arise and eat. I ate and he drank an angel Lord came a second time and touched him and said, arise and eat and listen to this for the journey is too great for you a rose and ate and drank and went. The strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb.

The amount of God and God used Elijah miraculously from that time forward, after he spoke to them through still small voice and maybe the most important event of his life was still to happen where his mantle would be passed to Elisha, who would continue on this ministry arise and need for the journey is too great for you if you don't have a great journey in front of you is not bad news is good news because what it means is there is more pressing on the second fear. The gospel overcomes that.

I think Paul is referring to here is the fear that we can't move for because were too doomed by our past and he says forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. In verse 13, I press on toward the goal. Forgetting what lies behind this is a tricky because as as I've often preached and written about this it's important to remember your God moments is important to remember God in your past like David is said when he generated five guys of the Lord deliver me for the polyline build up all the burial deliver me from this unfortunate uncircumcised listings well is important to remember God's mighty acts in your life because it builds faith for today, so there's something that we are to remember and there is something also that is important about remembering. Sometimes the pain instructs us to touch a hot stove, don't touch it again and so yes, it's a little tricky. There are some things you have to remember what Paul is saying that is unclear. Is he speaking of the failures of his pastors. He speaking of the success of his past because for him the boats were linked. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, a persecutor of Christians was in the Paul is a dishonest person wasn't. Paul didn't keep the law. Paul tried very loosely to keep the law but in so doing, he was crushing and persecuting the very spirit of Jesus himself. So Paul better persecutor overseen the murder of Christians in all this hanging on him what he saying is forgetting all that behind me, I press on, forgetting all that forgetting forgetting yesterday's hunting failures as well as forgetting yesterday's accolades because today is the moment.

Now is the time the racist in front of me that something is just so very important about this power of being able to let go.

11.

I wish I could just talk to old-time about the power of just letting go of these things and anchor us from the past where church we believe in the healing of our souls. We believe that God can minister even once those memories and those events in our in our lives that have have heard of so much so often what we do is try to go through life and we just put Band-Aids onto problems and try to move forward and were always tied down to a really healed.

We really believe in God, he is not been healed of so-so very much and I just believe that the announcement of the gospel that says forgetting what lies behind is an actual invitation you can trust God in this you can move on in your life without carrying the heavy baggage of yesteryear. How you gonna run a race if you're dragging along a bunch of anchors of regret and shame from your life.

One of today you just let God cut some of that away, break it off, you can move forward with so much more speed as you allow God to enable you to forget what lies behind hope and being clear about this. By this. I'm not saying to just fall into repressing painful memories. But I'm saying that there is a way of grace, you can forget I either have one the most unhealthy lives of repressed memory or I have one of the greatest gifts of of mercy from God.

I tend to believe it's the latter, I really tend to forget the things behind me. I mean I the salary for Jim, sometimes some will say to me, we don't remember what that person said that hurt you so bad you know, a few years back up such a site like that and a little.

I don't remember I don't remember my very first church I learned a very valuable lesson I got. I was at such a young man's fresh out of seminary and I went and began to leave this little church and there was a key young elder in that church: Sam and not long few months after I was there. He start making appointments with me to come and sit down and visit and at first I thought he was coming to help encourage me and then arouse it was an encouraging. He said things like, I am just having some problems with the leadership well. He is an elder as a pastor and is virtually went on about himself. It went on week after week. Honestly love it. It was just it became, I just went to pick up the phone and know he is call me because I do so here comes again.

Yet he was just a young and influential important elder and I wanted to honor him with time and I you come in and basically tell him everything he thought was wrong, and in the end it would feel like it like a heavy heavy weight but want to know that I just the Lord impressed by my heart to not form bitterness against him and I never did. And over time as the Lord began to honor our work there kingdom got expanded the church flourish. People came to Christ, he would still continue to have problems with this and then there became an event in his life, which keep anonymous that called upon me to go and minister and his family in a very deep way and to love him and I did love him and slowly after this period of time, he became one of my four prayer partners that would meet 6 AM on Saturday morning and come and pray you need a biscuit every single week for the remaining years of my ministry and became one of my best friends and I've seen this happen. Actually my life over and over. You can forgive, you can forget what lies behind your life not defined by yesterday you're in a race. This is the moment, there's the finish line. Press all talent right will have more teaching in a moment from today's important series actually reserved for those who have no problems or have you ever assume that some people are just born with a joyful personality, so get ready for some good news. Julie is a fruit of the spirit available to all in Christ, no matter the circumstances of life there.

Paul was in jail when he read his epistle to the Philippians he spoke of joy 16 times matter what you're going through. You too can discover the secret to unspeakable joy as pastor and right leads you through a life building explanation of Philippians. When you make a gift to sharing and light ministries today will send you the new CD album the secret and unspeakable joy as our way of saying thank you for your partnership. Your gifts are the only way we're able to continue broadcasting the message of grace all over the nation. Happiness may rise and fall with happenstance. Julie ever present in the spirit to become a partner today and discover joint like never before were in the final days of this special offer being made available to you. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan light ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at work in today's teaching now continues you once again is Alan writing. Don't let the devil keep you tied down from your destiny by the tyranny of yesterday's shame you can forgive. You can move on. Love is patient, Paul says, and kind. Love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude. It is not insist on its own way.

It is not irritable, it keeps no record of wrongs.

What would life be like if you could start fresh today. Honestly, that's my biggest problem in marriage counseling is it's all the dead gum package thereby brings into the site because if you could start fresh is what people say is seat you said it again you always say that you just added in 20 years of something. If it just happened that day and you could encounter it for what it was at that moment you can move on. But it's all the years of baggage all things behind us all of that is been brought into this moment all the time with all these judgments. They were so binding, let it go and press on.

Much more could be said about it, but also just will say this, that there is something unusual to opposite side of this is that there are. Sometimes we get stuck in our present because were so fixed on the positive things in the past important to remember your God moment so they will empower your faith for today but there's also a sense in which what Paul saying is I'm forgetting a lot with this wonderful things that happened, but on the go sit here in prison to go over the day back when I was out preaching the gospel roaming free and I saw people being hit is not talking like nostalgia sentiment about all the wonderful things that you used to do in your life. You know there's a fine line isn't therebetween celebrating what God's done so you'll be fueled with power to press on first. Looking back at all the best days are over and just talk about the good old times. As it is, his ovaries weird sort thing to describe us in golf know that the worst thing that can happen to you and around we are playing great is to start realizing you got a great score going because they use are they about a will mess it up.

Gospel gives you a way to live in this moment and press forward towards that goal. I am one more fear that I want to say the gospel addresses and that is that we have a deep intrinsic fear that somehow in the end that we're going to be rejected.

I'm gonna skip forward to verse 21 says our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body that our citizenship is in heaven and that we are moving towards it and we are guaranteed this promise of glorification of our body. Think on this. As Jesus was raised from the dead, so you will be as Jesus is a spiritual body that can reign in eternity and can be filled with resplendent glory.

So you will have a resurrected body that will be able to encounter the glories of God and you yourself same. You will live and reign with Christ in a new heaven and a new earth forever and forever. So other words, you can't be rejected because you're already accepted.

This is the beautiful thing about being a Christian is that you know that you have a citizenship now in a different kingdom.

And so when things in this world. When you feel like an alien youth like a refugee. You feel like you have no home here. It's okay you have a real home and it's with God's the limits this year for the first time has a team that has no nationality.

They are a team of refugees is a stirring story that was initiated by the president of the Olympic committee and the Olympic committee has authorized and established a refugee team of the millions and millions of Russian refugees around the world who have fled their home countries because of persecution, religious persecution, or because of war and strife and they have no place to live in, many of which millions which living in tents in refugee camps and some of them were excellent athletes as they went, they found 10 of the best athletes that are refugees from around the world and that they authorize them to become a team and the team refugee came marching in, not with any national flag or any song of their own because they are just part of the Olympic so they carried the Olympic flag in and they got the biggest standing ovation of any nation that came in their people on the team like 18-year-old use right martini. She fled war-torn Syria with her sister Sarah and a rubber boat. The dinghy was carrying 20 asylum-seekers, including the sisters on the way from Turkey to a Greek island and the boat began to struggle and the sisters were plunged into the icy waters they survived only by holding on to the edge of the dinghy and because one of them is an Olympic swimmer. She was able to swim. The little roll little rubber boat to shore and bring people to safety, so should be competing in the hundred meter butterfly and freestyle in the 2016 Olympics as part of team refugee.

They have an entourage of coaches like the others support staff to assist them during the Rio Olympics and some of them during their training were very glad that they're able to receive specially the runners a pair shoes that fit the leader of this team had herself set some records in the marathon, and races, and she now is campaigning and bring attention to the plight of refugees around the world.

These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthems that Pres. tells Bock the international of the committee will offer them a home in the Olympic village together with all the athletes of the world. I don't know about you but sometimes I just like an alien in this world. Sometimes in the midst of things that you just see going on around you and division and strife in terrorism and immorality and everything else you look in your go. What what is going on. I feel like such an alien. I just want to tell you today you are team refugee your real home is greater than any nationality you're a citizen of heaven you're already a citizen of heaven. That's the flag you're carrying and it is the greatest of all citizenship you could ever have. Because what it means you cannot be rejected.

Therefore, press on pretzel.

Not that I've already obtained will be perfect. If you fail at something tomorrow so what pretzel not that I not that I'm so afraid that I just can't move forward for fear of rejection you're already a citizen of the kingdom of God so you can press on, no matter what pulse I you can be sure of this.

You've been seized by God. You've been taken a hold of. So you keep pressing all pressing a hold of the fullness that's got the right center.

Motivation and Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life in our final word in this series. Unspeakable joy in today's teaching pressing on new so that seriously and constantly desires to waive the rights. Julie is an elusive dream reserve for select who have no problems or for those who were born with a joyful disposition actually enjoys the fruit of the spirit available to all in Christ, no matter what you're facing. You can have the joy of the Lord in the midst the apostle Paul.even his epistle to the Philippians. While in prison he spoke of Julie 16 Ehrenreich's newest album, the secretive unspeakable joy chapter by chapter 3 Paul's explanation of the secret of joy when you make a gift to data sharing and right will be delighted to send you the new CD Alan.

As I waved them apart and discover the secret unspeakable joy. We are happy to send this to you as I banks from Alan Knight ministries, seven 877-544-4860 were in the final days of this special offer being made available to you at 877-544-4861 come to our website.

Pastor Aron like that person who is either stuck or worse yet, they just want to give up in our messages. Don't give up. This is not just motivation is pie-in-the-sky citizen, a gospel centered in something you really really can drive a stick deep into the ground to know this is true. Truth is nothing wrong with motivation or motivational speeches and we all need it.

You know we're is wearing this series. It's actually running from a couple years ago when the Summer Olympics around and we just recently had the Winter Olympics and we have so many pictures of this in her mind and I dislike I've been telling in this message but am watching athletes that where do they get the strength to persevere where and why do they keep going. Is it because they are afraid that in the end they lose it's all for the prospect and the possibility of competing at the highest level and I think this is part of what God wants us to know is that fear failure come out of our lives as it does released in two. The mission that God is given for us and so if you're in a tough place when we say press on do so by the power of the good news of the gospel. Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan White ministries