Beyond Normal

“Straining forward … to the Not Yet”

Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Kings 20:1-7

Psalm 133:1 (ERV), “Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together…” 

Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

How do you Strain Forward to the “NOT YET”?

1) Live, in the Struggle of Not Yet

v1, “About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill…”  

 (See James 4:14, 1 Chronicles 29:15, 2 Samuel 14:14)

2) Live, at the intersection faith and the Not Yet

v2, “When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall…”

 James 4:13-17, “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

 Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

3) Live, on the edge of the Not Yet, Now.

See 2 Kings 20:4-6

Colossians 4:5, “Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.”