WILL MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Philippians 3:7-11
INTRODUCTION: One very important question we all want answered is “what difference will my life make?” Just like the snowflakes our Lord makes, so people also are unique. There are no two people ever exactly alike and the reason for that is God wants each of us to make a difference! Two things will determine what difference your life will make: What you know and who you know! One man whose life made a difference was the apostle Paul. Today we will look at how Paul made such a difference. What was the secret to his influence and impact that continues unto this day. We need to know three things on a daily basis that will make all the difference in how much difference our lives will make.
I. WE MUST KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!
The old quote says: “At the end of the day it is not what you know; it is who you know.” When the apostle Paul looked back over his life and accomplishments he said: Philippians 3:7-10. What do you consider are gain for you? What things are the most important in your life? Paul says he considered all his former treasures to be excrement when compared with knowing Jesus Christ! If you truly know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior it will make all the difference in your life! If you want to affect others with your life in a positive way you must know the supreme Person of Jesus Christ.
II. WE MUST KNOW THE SUPERNATURAL POWER OF OUR RISEN LORD!
It is not enough just to know Jesus Christ, we must know in a very real way the power of Jesus Christ: Philippians 3:10. Resurrection power is the greatest power this world has ever known or ever will know! It is one thing to have the power to kill someone, but it is totally a different kind of power to bring a dead person back to life never to die again! Do you know that the power God used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead is available to us today? You say where does the Bible say we can have that same power today? Philippians 4:13: We get that kind of power by asking for it, believing God will give it to us, surrendering to that power in our lives and then living like it is true. You see God made that kind of power available to His followers because it will bring glory to our Lord: Matthew 5:14-16; Luke 10:19-21. If you desire to make a real difference with your life you must know, you must grow in supernatural power of God every day that He has made available to you.
III. WE MUST EXPERIENCE THE SUFFERING OF JESUS CHRIST!
In order to make an eternal difference with your life we must experience the exact same thing Paul said he wanted to experience and that is the suffering of Jesus Christ: Philippians 3:10-11. Our Lord’s primary goal for each of us is to be like Jesus Christ: Romans 8:28-29. If we would truly be like Jesus we must experience all that He experienced, not just the mountain tops but also the deep dark valley experiences. Paul tells us that if we would really like to have our lives make a difference for our Lord it cannot be done outside of suffering: 2 Timothy 3:10-12. Even our Lord Jesus learned obedience by the things which He suffered: Hebrews 5:8. Nothing will focus our attention more on our Lord Jesus and draw us closer to Jesus and more dependent upon our Lord than when we suffer as He did. When we can still praise the Name of Jesus when He allows us to suffer it will make more of a difference as we simply stay faithful through the trial: Philippians 3:10-16. Are you ready to have your life make a difference?