FOCUS - Make Your One Thing the Main Thing 2

Christian the person is passionate about something. It occupies every thought, every month. Are you passionate about God's plan for your future.

The reports of the river. Jeremiah continues his work is the importance of keeping focus when seeking God's guidance for the next steps in your life to introduce the conclusion of his focus make you one thing the main thing is well here we are again walking our way through going forward and were studying how to get unstuck and how to get momentum back in our lives.

We talked about dreaming and praying and choosing and now today were going to finish up our today discussion on focusing making you one thing the main thing.

Let's get started with our final discussion on the subject of focus back in 1954. Roger Bannister was a medical student who enjoyed running the race in Oxford on May 6 of that year, and he made history, becoming the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes.

Bannister's time was three minutes 59.4 seconds and half of global way. Bannister's rival John Landy of Australia took notice. A month later, landing Bannister's record by one second, the media turned or spotlights on these two runners and thousands of people watch. Later that summer when they lined up at the British Empire games in Vancouver, Canada is called a mile of the century, the racers shot from the starting blocks.

Landy took the lead which you maintain the roar of the crowd was deafening with only 90 yards to go. Landy made a fatal mistake.

He glanced behind him at that exact moment. Banister Street by him and won the race by less than a second. The race became known as the miracle mile and a Vancouver sculptor created a bronze statue of the two men at the moment when Landy glanced back. Landy later said lots wife was turned into a pillar of salt from looking back, I am probably only one who got turned into a bronze statue for looking back, the apostle Paul would have loved that story because that's what he was talking about in Philippians 3 he spoke of forgetting the things that are behind us using the word for get in the sense of minimizing the negative impact of our past.

So stop allowing things from the past to control you in the present partnership things off. Let them cling to him like anchors pulling him down literally forget what we forget the past was a couple things. First of all we have to forget our successes.

Here's this great apostle who's accomplished more than most of us could ever accomplish in 10 lifetimes, and he said, in effect, I have not yet arrived and amazes me because I spent my lifetime studying Paul's life in writing and his influence for Christ is breathtaking.

NT Wright wrote about the impact of the apostles letters and he said this Paul's letters, and a standard modern translation occupy fewer than 80 pages is a safe bet to say that these letters page for page have generated more combat more sermons and more seminars, more monographs, and dissertations than any other writings from the ancient world. It is as though eight or 10 small paintings by an obscure artist to become more sought after more studying and copy more highly valued but all the Rembrandts and patients of all the Monet's and Ben goes in the world. Paul's epistles comprise only part of his ministry he founded most of the churches in Asia minor was an intellectual giant. Some consider him the greatest man who ever lived apart from Jesus Christ. Yet, here is this man in the twilight of his life. Looking back and say I'm not there yet. I have apprehended the spiritual quality of life I want for myself. I have not yet been perfected. I want to continue to strive for that for which God has called me.

I don't know any man you could say was more successful than Paul but the key to success was that he knew he had not arrived. He wasn't proud he was humble. He didn't look at the past and try to live on his laurels. He lived for the present we need to do the same. Maybe you look back on your life and you had a great career.

Maybe you were at the very top of whatever it is that you do is help you now, and it surely won't help you in the future for you to go forward. You have to learn to forget, but you know what successes may be harder to forget. We like to forget our failures.

That's the second thing I want to talk you about forgetting your mistakes the other way of taking God's perspective regarding your past is to simply make up your mind to forget those things that haunt you as Ruth Bell Graham quipped every cat knows some things need to be buried. The founder of the Red Cross. Clara Barton was once offended by a coworker, but she quickly forgave her friend and went on. Years later, someone reminded her of the incident and said don't you remember no said Mrs. Martin, I distinctly recall forgetting there need to be things like that in your life that in mind, distinctly recall forgetting things in your past. Could you choose to forget, for example, guilt is remembering a sin that's already been buried by the blood of Christ. Bitterness is remembering an offense that should be buried by grace. Discouragement is letting the last setback become a roadblock. Your brain wants to relive the events over and over and if you let it. It will want you with failures and shame you with mistakes and keep you awake with stress and low you to sleep with nostalgia you can override your brain by giving the pastor God forgetting things that will pull you back and pull you down, let me say this, if you know Jesus Christ as Savior.

There's no reason to be obsessed over your past failures. The blood of Christ. Jesus frees you from beating yourself up with regrets.

When you become a follower of Christ. You enter into a new life in him, and your past is behind you once and for all. I discovered that Satan loves to remind you of your history and all of its failure, but that's when you say would Jesus get behind me Satan. Remember opponent's have successes in his past. He had a wicked past. He cruelly persecuted Christians. He attacked the church, he helped condemn Stephen the first question to be martyred for the cause of Christ. After Paul's dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road. Many Christians remembered what he had done and they were still afraid of him. What Paul had continued to live in that past one for Flogging himself for what he had done, he would have lost his influence and instead he acknowledged his past, but was full of gratitude for God's grace and for his total forgiveness about pastor for a long time and I noticed that many of God's people get stranded in the past. So mom get stuck on their successes and rest on their laurels and some are left high and dry by their failures in a sort of posttraumatic fear grips their hearts that happened to you. Be honest, you must glance back and learn the lesson of the past and celebrate your success with humility, but it's one thing to glance back.

It's another thing to get marooned in her memories. The past lends perspective for the future but if you linger there too long. Your recollection will obliterate your dreams and hinder you from going forward him and carefully focus on God's purpose, focus on his perspective and then thirdly focus on his plan. As we continue with our passage in Philippians noticed that Paul becomes more specific, moving from our perspective to our plans. This is reaching forward to those things which are ahead, God's purpose for all of us is the same to become more like Jesus but his plans for each of us are unique distinct blueprint for the life of every individual on earth and in history. This plan for you is tailor-made and it's for you alone.

It's perfect for the way he made you and the experiences that you have everything has prepared for his next step in your life but you have to follow him into unknown territory into the future. You have to learn what it means to walk by faith. The psalmist put it this way. He said the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. We are good in ourselves, but we are good in Christ and in Christ God not only orders your steps and your stops. He delights in the way he guide you forward, he delights in his plans for you should delight in them to God, is delighted in his purpose and plan for your life. Should you not also delight in those plans so you need to focus on God's purpose and focus on his perspective. Looking back, but not staying in history, focus on this plan. Find out what he want you to do and then focus on his prize. Finally, deliver, focus, life, you need to fix your attention on heaven and the reward that awaits you. There Paul wrote, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus for Paul, the goal and prize were one and the same not defined in this verse. This is a clear reference to the many promises given to those who are victorious in Christ. Remember, the Bible says that when we get to heaven if we live for the Lord, the Lord Jesus is going to welcome us home. These words well done good and faithful servant. It embraces the crown of righteousness. I could also refer to what Peter called the crown of glory which doesn't fade away. Whatever else this prize and goal will be more than I have seen or has heard God's plan for you is to reward you so abundantly, I promise you you won't believe it. Remember, Paul was using the metaphor of an Olympic race in the ancient Olympics, the forerunner won the race. He was someone from the stadium to the judges box and a wreath of Laurel was placed on his head. He received financial rewards and some great fringe benefits. Listen to this. This food was provided to him for the rest of his life and he had lifelong tickets on the front row of the Athenian theater but all those runners have been dead for centuries. Their prizes came to an end.

Glory evaporated. The food lost its flavor and the Athenian theater is now in ruins. It was all temporary. The prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus is eternal, according to the apostle Peter, you have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.

That does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, if you know how important it is to keep your eyes focused on the future Florence Chadwick learned that lesson.

She was an accomplished long-distance swimmer and the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, setting new records each way back in 1952. She was 34 years old and she set out to break another record. No woman had ever swarmed the more than 20 mile channel between Catalina and California.

The conditions on the morning of her swim were not ideal. The water was cold all of us who live on the West Coast can identify with that water was cold in the fall, get settled in soon after she began to swim. She could barely see the boats accompanying her and to make matters worse, sharks trailed her several times and had to be driven off. Still Florence Chadwick swam on for more than $15.

And as the fog grew increasingly dense and opaque. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted.

She stopped swimming. She was pulled into the boat and taken toward the California shore, which she discovered to her dismay, was a little more than 1/2 mile away after swimming almost 20 miles.

She had quit half a mile from her goal on the following day she told the news media.

All I could see was the fog. I think if I could have seen the shore.

I would have made two months later Florence was back on Catalina Island stepping into the water to try to swim again.

Unfortunately weather conditions were no better.

The water was cold and began a dense fog settled over the channel, but this time she swam all the way.

The first woman to make what made the difference. She later said that while swimming those last grueling miles. She kept her mind focused on a vivid mental image of the California shore at that moment, she said. I knew the real meaning of faith described in the Bible the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen this then is your four-lane road but God wants you to focus on as you go forward. Driving down the legs of his purpose is perspective. His plan and his prized but there's one final thing that draws all of this together as you seek to move forward toward God's plan for the next phase of your life.

You must find your passion and give your life to one thing you must choose one share is an old Russian proverb put it, if you choose to rabbits. She will not catch either one. Gilbert is one of the best runners in the world of skill he developed when he had to literally run for his life as a boy in Burundi, Pistorius caroling in October 1993.

Gilbert was sitting in his high school class, probably thinking about running and he developed a love for track and field events in junior high he could hardly wait to tear around the track again. But on that day the simple routines of the classroom were shattered by Hutu terrorists.

The school was invaded by hostile members of the tribe. They descended on the children with genocidal rage more than 100 Tutsi children and their teachers were forced into a small room and hacked to death with machetes and burned alive, Gilbert wasn't killed but he found himself at the bottom of the pile buried under the burning corpses of his classmates.

The smoldering fire ate into his skin when he remained hidden for more than nine hours while the torturers stayed outside laughing and dancing. Finally, Gilbert smashed through a window and took off like an arrow. Hooters chased him, but Gilbert outran them and made it to a local hospital where doctors told her he would never run again. Gilbert and believe the doctors felt God had spared him and that the Lord had a plan for his life. He said I was knew that my faith would be tested and it certainly was in those hours when my school was attacked my belief in God. It has never faltered.

I never blamed him or wondered how he would've let such a thing happened to me or my classmates accepted what was taking place and I knew that it was all part of a plan, much larger than me. Gilbert persevered until he was running well enough to win the Burundi national championship and the 400 and 800 m is coaches felt he had Olympic potential and he was sent to the United States as part of an Olympic training program there. Abilene Christian University offered him a scholarship. After graduation, Gilbert moved to Austin to coach on runners and soon his ministry was off and running. His books and speeches is coaching have touched thousands of lives.

What's more, Gilbert started the gazelle foundation whose slogan is run for the water to fund and build clean water projects for the people of Blondie is Gilbert's gazelles training group provides motivation to help runners of all ages at all levels like someone like that someone who never loses focus who runs to win whose life is defined by one thing you see this kind of focus often in the Bible because the writers of the Bible knew something about focusing on one thing. For instance, David said one thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord Jesus said to the rich young ruler.

One thing you lack go your way.

So whatever you have and give it to the floor and you will have treasure in heaven and come, take up the cross and follow me. Jesus told the distractive homemaker Martha. One thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part. The man healed by Jesus said one thing I know that though I was blind I see and the apostle Paul said, I focus on one thing. This phrase one thing implies consecration some word meaning to dedicate yourself in your every day to the wonderful will of God.

At the core of Paul's life was one motivating principle. He focused on Christ. He concentrated his walk with Jesus, he said, in effect, Lord, your will be done today and every remaining day I have on this earth, not my will but yours be done. That brings me to the secret of the focus life staying committed to your passion to do one thing several years ago I was reminded of this truth. When I was invited to tour one of the largest current farms in America. Our host showed me the countless ways carrots are consumed carrot juice Kurt Kate baby carrots dozens of other products.

I never dreamed came from carrots. When I asked how much of the current do you use my host replied we use every part of the character, not a single bit goes to waste. To illustrate his point, he went to the whiteboard in the conference room or we were on that whiteboard. He drew a picture of a carrot and then he carefully labeled every part of the carrot and how it's used and he was right. Nothing goes to waste my friend built a hugely successful business by staying focused on carrots when I returned to my office I get our stuff together and I told him about my whiteboard lesson on carrots and I went to all whiteboard and I sketch the Bible and I said this is my current let's stay focused on the one thing together. We renewed our commitment to exclusively focus the ministry of Turning Point on the Bible and to deliver the word of God in his many creative ways as possible. We thought of all the things we do that are based squarely on the word of God. Sunday sermons, radio and TV programs, streaming, social media, magazines, books, DVD album CD album study guides, devotionals, multi language translations and a host of other products and channels under the umbrella of the Turning Point ministries. Our goal is the same as my current farming friend. Let nothing of the poor and precious life-giving word of God be wasted.

To be good stewards of the calling of God has given us the privilege of proclaiming his word to as many people as possible in our lifetime.

This is our mission. This is our one thing this is our main thing. This is our focus. I don't know the details of God's plan for your life. But I do know this is your focus on this purpose. This perspective his plan and his prize, he will guide you on the journey forward. Commit yourself to following the Lord, to the best of your ability. Soon you will enjoy the adventure of discovering and living for one thing, step-by-step, and day by day. I will never forget the power of the store with which this message began you have to get to the place we are willing to sit in one chair and let God lead you forward with his plan brings us to the end of the message on focus tomorrow to talk about one of my favorite chapters in this new book and the title of that message is risk getting out of your safe zone.

So whatever you do don't miss tomorrow and Wednesday.

On Thursday and Friday morning talk about pursue chasing your dream.

This is a Turning Point and were learning how to go forward based on the new book by that name forward discovering God's presence and purpose in your tomorrow. Hope you're having a good day already, whatever time it may be when you listen to this agreement shall have a great day for the rest of this day and look forward to seeing you right here tomorrow on this good station that Mrs. today came to from Shadow Mountain Community Church with Dr. David Jeremiah serves as senior pastor. How is the Turning Point in reaching his right until his point. A spokesman for the San Diego California 9263 or visit our website@jeremiah.org/radio asked for your copy of David's powerful discovering God's presence and purpose in your tomorrow was for a gift of any amount you can also download the free 2.5 all. At least my front tablet and you have still Turning Point ministries Texas programs and resources just as Jeremiah.org/radio the mom. Gary hopefully join us tomorrow as we continue the series Turning Point. Jeremiah taking time to listen to the trendy thing